As Electrek covers, the automobile landscape is clearly changing with electric vehicles replacing gas-powered cars, autonomous features potentially replacing drivers, and iPhone-maker Apple developing an EV of its own. But Porsche wants no part in that future says CEO Oliver Blume. Reuters reports that Blume told German media this week essentially that a Porsche is meant to be driven, and an iPhone is meant for your pocket, not the road:
“One wants to drive a Porsche by oneself,” Blume said in an interview with regional newspaper Westfalen-Blatt published on Monday.
“An iPhone belongs in your pocket, not on the road,” Blume added, saying that Porsche did not need to team up with any big technology companies.
While Blume was using the iPhone line largely to explain away the need for computerized vehicles and embrace the nature of high-performance cars like Porsches, it’s a curious one as the new 911 features Apple’s CarPlay …
Frankly, if given the choice between a Porsche as-is or a Porsche with autonomous driving capabilities, I’d choose the latter hands-down (although, for the record, I am not declining the traditional Porsche if offered).
And smarter, iPhone-like cars certainly seem to be the way of the future.
While ‘autonomous features’ can be loosely defined to include any feature that assists the driver and not just full-on self-driving cars, Reuters points out that research by Boston Consulting Group shows market penetration for these features will reach 13% and make up an estimated $42 billion market by 2025.
While the project has already had its fair share of expected turbulence, the rumored Apple Car could debut around that time with one reported target for introduction set in 2020.
And evidence shows autonomous vehicles are safer than human drivers (which isn’t hard to believe for me) with Tesla and Google leading the way forward for now.
What do you think? Is a Porsche not a Porsche unless you’re fully in control behind the wheel, or are autonomous features going to be a part of every car in the future?
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He knows his market — nobody’s buying a Porsche for it to be fully autonomous and it’s far too much of an investment for something that would only be used under rare circumstances.
The super-cars will probably be the last holdouts, until the government-mandated Autonomous Driving Act of 2050 shuts them down.
I don’t agree at all. I’m on my second Porsche Panamera now and I would not buy another car ever without ACC, Porsche’s adaptive cruise control, which is awesome for long trips where you can’t really “drive”. So going a bit farther with full auto pilot isn’t too far of a stretch for me as my car now accelerates and brakes on its own when activated, I just need to keep on the wheel.
I think often times people see autonomous vehicles as always autonomous rather than an option. Porsche is crazy to think people wouldn’t want autonomous driving occasionally.