1 Can Cars Drive Themselves—And Should They? Will cars really be able to drive themselves without human operators? Should they?
And are they good business investments? Everyone is searching for answers. Autonomous vehicle technology has reached a point where no automaker can ignore it.
Every major auto maker is racing to develop and perfect autonomous vehicles, believing that the market for them could one day reach trillions of dollars. Companies such as Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Mercedes, Tesla, and others have invested billions in autonomous technology research and development.
Ford invested $1 billion in AI firm Argo AI, and GM bought a self-driving car startup called Cruise. Ford has set a goal of producing a self-driving car with no pedals by 2021.
Ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft believe driverless cars that eliminate labor costs are key to their long-term profitability. Cars that drive themselves have been on the road in select locations in California, Arizona, Michigan, Paris, London, Singapore, and Beijing.
Waymo, the company that emerged from Google’s self-driving car project, predicts that by 2020 its fleet of self-driving Jaguars will make as many as one million trips per day.
Case Study Questions
1.What are the management, organizational, and technology challenges posed by self-driving car technology?
2.Are self-driving cars good business investments? Explain your answer.
3.What ethical and social issues are raised by self-driving car technology?
4.Will cars really be able to drive themselves without human operators? Should they?
