If you look at the history of the car industry, you would see that things are happening at a faster pace today than they have ever before. The industry has changed very rapidly in the last few decades. This makes us wonder what the future holds and how the industry would look like in 10, 20 years from now.
Usually, when the industry’s future is under discussion, people mostly talk about the buzz topics that have been talked about for some years. Such subjects include connectivity, electrification, autonomy, and car-sharing. They are indeed important topics, as, if these things work together, they can provide greater efficiency, safety, and convenience.
But, surprisingly, there are fewer talked about matters that could see some big changes in the future. For instance, how would be conventional car ownership in the future or insurance costs, or what could happen to enjoying the ownership of a classic car? Many decisions including the ones we have mentioned would need to be made within the next 9 years or so, as we might only see electric cars from 2034 or before. So, it makes the next years for the industry analysts very different from the years before.
One of the issues that’s under a lot of discussions is autonomous driving. And, in case, you are wondering, when it will happen in the future, you should know, it’s already here. We have seen a lot of cars capable of driving on the roads at a controlled speed without a driver. But, the challenge is to deliver safe, hands-off driving in all traffic, light, weather, and location conditions. It’s very hard to achieve Level 4 autonomous driving, and level 5 is at least 8 years away. So, the issue here is integration, and what needs to be answered is, if it comes, how it will work with the cars we already have.
We are heading towards a time, where the customers would choose or be forced to prefer electric vehicles over internal combustion, but what changes would occur to the laws. Can we see an increase in the penalties of ICE cars over the years and will there be a subsidy for zero-CO2 synthetic fuels? If anyone who wants to buy the ICE cars, just because they like things the old way, would actually be able to. In the next years, we would have answers to all these questions.