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The average consumer would be willing to pay $4,900 more for a car that had self-driving technologies, and $3,500 more for crash avoidance, according to a new study published in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies.
The researchers, from Cornell University in the US, also found a big difference in what people would be willing to pay: some would stretch to more than $10,000 for automation, while others would pay nothing at all. Car manufacturers should consider this as technologies develop and give people flexible options.
Today it's possible to buy a car that can park itself, stay in lane and maintain a constant speed. The technology is developing fast and many companies are already testing self-driving cars; it's likely we will soon see fully automated cars on the market. But will people be willing to pay for this technology and how can manufacturers and policy makers make sure it is rolled out to our roads smoothly? This is what Dr. Ricardo Daziano and his colleagues wanted to find out.
Are consumers willing to pay to let cars drive for them? Analyzing response to autonomous vehicles (DOI: 10.1016/j.trc.2017.03.003) (DX)
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday May 12 2017, @08:17AM (9 children)
The average new car is somehow about $40k, and the average new consumer would be willing to pay another 10% for extra safety...
Great, except that the median American household income is $55k per year.
Methinks people with lots of cash are skewing both the average and the study, because half the households sure won't casually drop another >10% of their gross income, even if they could finance the average car in the first place.
Does "consumer" only include "buyers of new cars above $30k"?
I know we have an oversized segment of the economy that caters to those with lots of disposable income, and this looks like another side-effect...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 12 2017, @08:31AM (2 children)
Does "consumer" only include "buyers of new cars above $30k"?
Yes, obviously. It's difficult to buy a car when you're homeless and destitute, like so many Americans are today. Yet there is a middle ground, shockingly, a whole segment of consumers who don't count since they never buy vehicles. These are what we call the working poor, and they pay rent in the form of bus fare.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday May 12 2017, @03:09PM (1 child)
Yet there is a middle ground, shockingly, a whole segment of consumers who don't count since they never buy vehicles. These are what we call the working poor, and they pay rent in the form of bus fare.
Actually, that's not the "middle ground." The "middle ground" is the large segment of the population who is actually looking for cars that cost less than $30k. If these people didn't exist, there likely wouldn't be such a market for used cars. The average used car price in the U.S. is around $15000, and while it seems weirdly difficult to find the data on this, it seems that used car sales in the U.S. are likely about twice as many as new car sales. It's also difficult to tell whether the $15000 quoted as "average" is meant to be mean or median. I think it's likely mean, in which case, it's quite likely that this number is skewed up by more expensive used cars (e.g., "certified" fancy cars coming off leases and such), and the majority of the used market is a lot lower than $15000.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 12 2017, @04:00PM
I make $85k, spent $4.5k on my last car (though it was listed at $6.5k, my dealer/uncle helped me out).
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 12 2017, @02:15PM (2 children)
Yeah, my first thought on reading the title was "Demographics????"
I suspect that as well as being wealthy, the people who replied to the poll were also Greens, and/or progressives, or other people who are opposed to traditional industries.
Personally, the only "self driving vehicle" I am ever likely to own, is a horse, or a mule. Ride down to the bar, get soused, and when the bar closes down, mount up, and give him his head. Assuming that you've fastened your saddle-belt, and don't fall off, you can rely on the horse to get you back to the barn. Once there, you can unsnap your saddle-belt, and fall into the hay, get a good night's sleep, then face the irate wife in the morning.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 12 2017, @02:47PM (1 child)
My household income is about $250K, but I find it a stretch to pay even 26K for a crossover SUV. I think I have better use for that money.
I would only pay more for a car that required no gas.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday May 12 2017, @04:22PM
I agree, and think that's even more widely true. For example, do you really need to spend a thousand bucks on an ultra hi-def TV to watch the same reality show shit? Do you really need to fork over several hundred dollars on a few garments with a "fancy" label that are in fact sewn in the same sweatshops by the same people who are sewing the "economy" label clothes? Do you really need to pay a premium for the "good" phone that will last no longer than the "bad" phone? Do you need to pay extra to dine at the fancy restaurant when the food is cooked by the same Mexicans who cook the food at the diner down the block?
In other words, our vanity and social primping cost us so much money we needn't spend. If we spent our money, asking ourselves different questions, couldn't we all do better, questions like, "Do I really need this? Can I use this money to work for me? Will spending this money save me more, or make me more money?"
Mindlessly consuming and spending will never fulfill us, just like eating bag after bag of nothing but potato chips will ever satisfy our hunger.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday May 12 2017, @03:19PM (2 children)
The car market is insane, in my opinion. It's astounding how much people will shell out for a new car, even if their budget is otherwise tight.
I suppose if you're a commuter who has to spend many hours/day in your car, it's probably worth it. I don't judge people's preferences for what makes them happy.
But it's shocking the premium many people are willing to pay for a slightly "cooler" car or slightly better options. I don't necessarily agree with getting too extreme, but this site [financialsamurai.com] has an interesting perspective on car cost vs. income. I particularly like the "Financial Status Based on Your Car Spending Habit" chart, which seems pretty insightful.
According to that chart, if the average American household with $55k/year is buying a $40k car, they are at 40/55 = 72% of gross annual income for a car purchase. According to the chart, that puts them in the high range of "Must want to work for a very long time" and borderline "Cares too much about image and likely has huge debt." Seems a pretty accurate description for a lot of American households.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 12 2017, @07:08PM (1 child)
Interesting, but having had grow-up in a communist "uptopia" - no not the one describe by uncle Bernie, because the true form of communism has never been tried - people often made 10% of car (if you can call the communist distopian vehicle a car) price in a given year. I think making 70% odd percent is much much better.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday May 12 2017, @07:20PM
people often made 10% of car (if you can call the communist distopian vehicle a car) price in a given year. I think making 70% odd percent is much much better.
??
I'm confused, because literally your statement says you made 10% of a car price in a year. So, if the car costs $50k, you made $5k/year. In such a scenario, I'd agree that making 70% of car price ($35k) would be a LOT better. (And that doesn't seem to very different from what I argued, i.e., that people should be spending less for cars compared to their income.)
Except those aren't the numbers from my post. My post was saying that the car price was 70% of annual income. Sticking with a $50k car, that would imply an annual income of of roughly $71k. The website I linked recommends paying 1/10th of your annual income for a car. So, to afford a $50k car, you should be earning $500k.
Not sure how exactly that interacts with your communist u/dys-topia exactly.