Latest Audi Study Finds Consumers Are Interested in Autonomous Vehicles

author: Vineeth Joel Patel   

Autonomous cars aren't quite ready to share the road with human drivers just yet, but they're getting closer. And they get closer day by day. Self-driving vehicles are expected to go mainstream within the next decade or so, and it looks like the majority of people are excited for them. In a recent study that was conducted by Audi, people from around the globe appear to see autonomous cars with optimism.

Overall Findings Are Good
 
In its study, Audi surveyed 21,000 participants from nine countries around the world, including China, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Britain, Germany, Japan, France, and the United States. After it received answers from the respondents, the study broke the findings down into three categories, which include the emotional landscape, the Human Readiness Index (HRI), and multiple user typology templates. The HRI is the most important aspect of the categories, and includes things like gender, age groups, income, living environment, the distance a participant drives each day, and education level.  
 
The findings were illuminating and found that younger participants were more interested in autonomous vehicles than older respondents. Across all nine of the countries, participants that were part of Generation Z (younger than 24 years of age) showed a "high readiness" for driverless technology. Approximately 73 percent of respondents that fell under that category stated that they were curious about self-driving tech. Millennials followed closely after, with Baby Boomers, unsurprisingly, that weren't as enthusiastic about driverless vehicles. Looking at the bigger picture, approximately half of the respondents had a positive view of autonomous technology at 49 percent.
 
Looking at the world as a whole, 82 percent of those that were surveyed stated that they were interested in autonomous technology, but each country differed drastically. Respondents in China and South Korea were the most enthusiastic about autonomous vehicles with 98 percent and 94 percent, respectively. On the flip side of things, respondents in Japan and the United States made it clear that they aren't crazy about self-driving cars, as 74 percent and 72 percent, respectively, said they were interested in driverless cars.

Concerns Still Loom Over Driverless Cars
 
While the survey generally portrayed autonomous vehicles in a good light, the study still found that people had concerns about the technology. Internationally, the vast majority of those that were surveyed (70 percent) stated that they were concerned with giving up control over driving a car. Another issue (65 percent) was how the car assesses a situation. Other concerns included data security, a lack of legal regulations, and the issue of driving not being fun.
 
There have been multiple accidents involving autonomous vehicles, one even claimed a life in Arizona last year. Despite coverage of self-driving cars being in accidents, the study found that coverage didn't sway respondents. Roughly 61 percent of surveyors that had seen coverage about a crash involving an autonomous car stated that it didn't change their attitude.
 
If there's one major takeaway from Audi's study, it's that automaker and companies won't be able to come out with autonomous vehicles using a one-size-fits-all approach. The simple question of what an autonomous car should be has various answers depending on where a person lives, how much money the make, education level, and more.

Vineeth Joel Patel

Joel Patel has been covering all aspects of the automotive industry for four years as an editor and freelance writer for various websites. When it comes to cars, he enjoys covering the merger between technology and cars. In his spare time, Joel likes to watch baseball, work on his car, and try new foods