December 11, 2024, Novi, Michigan, and Düsseldorf Automakers will be able to rethink the future of automobile interiors as fully autonomous vehicles transform into mobile living spaces. Asahi Kasei, a Japanese technology company, polled automobile owners in its fifth annual survey the four main auto markets about their views on sustainability and their hopes and worries about fully autonomous cars. Consumer preferences for features, interior design, and use cases provide the auto industry with important clues about what the future of cars should look like.
Customers in the four main automotive markets—Japan, China, Germany, and the United States—have important expectations for autonomous vehicles and how they would spend their time in one, according to the findings of Asahi Kasei’s sixth worldwide Automotive Consumer Survey.
Mistrust of technology
Most respondents do not think that a retractable steering wheel and pedals are useful, indicating that automobile consumers are still cautious about how a completely autonomous vehicle should operate. This validates the findings of the According to the most recent poll conducted in 2022, a significant percentage of customers in China, the USA, and Germany still choose completely autonomous cars with a steering wheel and brake pedal for optional manual control. One in two people in Japan have this perspective. Offering a manual control option might contribute to a greater adoption of completely autonomous vehicles in Germany and the USA.
Furthermore, two out of three drivers in China, the USA, and Germany said they would continue to monitor traffic when driving autonomously; playing games or watching films while driving is at the bottom of the list (see Figure 1). This is just another proof that modern automobile owners have worries regarding fully autonomous vehicles’ safety and reliability. These feelings will have a significant impact on how the initial generations of completely driverless cars are designed inside.
A quiet space for conversing and enjoying music
One out of every two respondents named the “silent cabin” as their favourite interior feature of an autonomous vehicle (see Figure 2). This illustrates the difficulties faced by several battery electric vehicles (BEVs). users; nearly one in four BEV owners cited “too much noise while driving” as the most bothersome feature of the vehicle. The noise of the wind, tires, gears, and motors—sounds that are normally muffled by engine noise—becomes more noticeable even if the BEV is quieter than an automobile with an internal combustion engine (ICE). Silence will even become more significant to consumers in completely autonomous electric cars, when they can participate in other activities during their commute.
Listening to music and podcasts while driving is the most popular pastime among automobile users globally, with 66% of Americans, 61% of Chinese and Japanese drivers, and 56% of German drivers doing so. Speaking with other travellers is just as important as sleeping or working as less significant, emphasising the necessity of tables or seats that are lie-flat.
Regional differences exist in how sustainability is perceived.
Consumers now consider a car’s carbon footprint, readily recyclable components, and overall sustainable manufacture over its whole lifecycle in addition to its drivetrain technology when defining a “sustainable vehicle.” value chain. Sustainability is becoming more and more understood by consumers, and in recent years, it has become a more important concern in the shopping process.
According to respondents in Western markets, an automobile is considered sustainable if it uses recyclable components and is produced sustainably along the value chain. In contrast, a sustainable automobile is mostly defined by its drivetrain technology for consumers in China and Japan (see Figure 3). This subject is getting more pertinent to the decision-making process when making a purchase, especially in Western nations, where 35% of all respondents in the USA and Germany said they would change the brand of their automobile to one made by a more environmentally friendly company in order to promote greener mobility.