A Rinspeed Budii autonomous car concept is shown during the 85th International Motor Show on March 3, 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland. ; Credit: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images
Two major trends in automotive transportation could transform the industry in the coming years.
In a recent report to investors, Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas wrote that autonomous cars and the sharing economy could soon give rise to robot taxi services. Graphing his research data, Jonas says that people may soon start thinking of cars as a shared assets.
Companies like Uber pioneered the shared economy by allowing people to make money by using their car as a taxi. As autonomous technology advances, however, humans may be squeezed out of the game entirely.
According to Jonas’ research, the average car is only used for about an hour a day. Cars spend the rest of the day sitting in parking lots and garages. Jonas says that we may be ignoring an important industry. “The car, on our estimates, is the world’s most underutilized asset,” Jonas wrote.“ We believe it is the most disreputable business on earth.” When autonomous cars become the norm, cars could make their owners money while they’re at home or at work. Eventually, you might not even need a car.
How do you feel about the “sharing economy?” Would you be comfortable getting picked up by a robot driver?
Guest:
Adam Jonas, lead auto analyst at Morgan Stanley Research and author of the new report, “Shared Autonomy”