In a study conducted by the team at AutoPacific, we can see how much consumers trust major automotive brands with the development of a safe and reliable fully autonomous vehicle. Based on the data collected by AutoPacific, Tesla is the most trusted organization in autonomous car tech by a long way when compared to other automakers.
To capture the current level of trust consumers have for automotive brands as they develop full self-driving car technology AutoPacific interviewed 600 licensed drivers across the United States of America. Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 91 years old with a median age of 43. According to AutoPacific, 9% lived in suburban areas, 27% urban/city, and 24% rural.
Based on the data collected by AutoPacific 32% of respondents put their trust in Tesla to develop a safe and reliable fully autonomous vehicle. This is followed by Toyota with 19% and BMW with 18%. Chevy and Ford round out the top five with ratings of 16% and 14% respectively. In sixth place, we have Apple as the only technology company to reach the top ten list.
Apple is an interesting addition to the top ten most trusted brands to build a fully autonomous vehicle considering it hasn’t built a car before. In the survey, 13% of respondents picked Apple to build a trust worthy fully autonomous vehicle, which put the tech firm ahead of car manufacturers like Honda, Audi, Subaru, and Cadillac.
When it comes to fully autonomous vehicles younger generations are far more supportive of efforts to bring the technology to market. According to AutoPacific, “22% of younger shoppers ages 30 to 39 want AVs as soon as possible followed by 14% of shoppers ages 18 to 29.” This excitement for autonomous vehicles starts to drop off with older generations as only 3% of respondents above the age of 60 want fully autonomous cars as soon as possible.
As the march towards the first fully autonomous vehicle continues, it's clear that based on the data, young people are putting their stock in newcomers to the market like Tesla. The Tesla brand is built on pushing the limits of car technology which makes it a clear front runner in the minds of consumers.
