Changing technology is rapidly altering consumer demand when it comes to buying a new car. Although we are nowhere near fully autonomous vehicles becoming the standard mode of transport, today’s car buyers have shaken off the unrealistic fear of machines taking over.
In fact, vehicle manufacturer Ford has discovered that its consumers are increasingly opting for advanced driver assistance (ADAS) technologies.
In its 2015 Car Buying Trends study into new car purchasing habits in Europe, Ford discovered that European drivers are embracing – and even demanding – cutting-edge technologies that can help them to park, avoid collisions, and maintain a steady speed at a safe distance from other vehicles on the road.
To satisfy this driver need for advanced technologies, one in three Ford vehicles sold in the past year was equipped with parking systems that help drivers locate and steer into parking spaces. In addition, the number of cars ordered with Ford’s automatic braking tech has almost doubled in the past year, while over half were fitted with cruise-control systems.
“While manufacturers, including Ford, are working towards developing autonomous vehicles, our customers are already embracing many of the smart technologies that make driving and parking easier and safer,” says Roelant de Waard, vice-president for marketing, sales and service at Ford of Europe.
Many believe that increased pressure on the automotive industry to satisfy consumer needs stems from a surge in consumer electronics. A greater consumer interest in more sophisticated automotive technologies has made connected mobility and consumer experience ever more prominent. In its study, Ford found that over 75% of car buyers in Europe purchase vehicles with voice-control systems that can be used to make calls, play music, find restaurants, and set navigation.
“Our study found that consumers still want to buy a car, but the millennial generation and the one after that, at least, have a different attitude to material things. We have a responsibility to adapt our vehicles in ways that fulfil customer demands for the latest technology and connectivity,” explains De Waard.
Currently Ford is working on four main ADAS technologies. One of these – Active City Stop – helps to reduce the severity of low-speed collisions by automatically applying the brakes if a driver doesn’t respond to slowing traffic ahead.
Strength to strength
Active City Stop has increased in popularity in recent years, with over 13% of cars produced in the last 12 months being equipped with the system – a figure that’s 6% greater than the previous year.
Another system uses sensors and the vehicle’s steering system to help drivers find a suitable space and steer into it. Active Park Assist was fitted to over 33% of Ford cars in Europe in the last 12 months, rising from 28% the previous year.
A third system, Adaptive Cruise Control, enables drivers to maintain a set distance from the vehicle in front, even if the vehicle is travelling more slowly. In the past year, more than half of new Ford cars in Europe were equipped with some kind of cruise-control technology, rising from 48% to 52%.
Ford’s fourth system, Lane Keeping Aid, detects an unintentional lane departure and applies steering torque, alerting drivers to provide the necessary steering correction. Throughout Europe, the number of vehicles sold with Lane Keeping Aid fitted rose by 20% during the same period.
Taking over the wheel
Autonomous control is evolving to affect more parts of the car, explains De Waard. “We have witnessed increasingly different elements of how technology influences taking over driving. Previously, the main technology was cruise control, then emergency braking and now there’s a lane-keeping aid. These technologies are able to take over the throttle, the brakes and now the steering wheel. In the future, these technologies will be increasingly integrated with the navigation system, resulting in fully autonomous vehicles.”
De Waard expects that these technologies will radically increase in sophistication in the future.
He says: “When we first launched our autonomous parking aid technology, it could only enable longitudinal parking. Now we have made it perpendicular, and soon there will be technology where you can be outside the vehicle and the car will park itself. In the future, you will be able to go to a parking garage and restaurant and call over your vehicle, which will arrive at the front door.”
To test its advanced technologies, Ford unveiled a fleet of fully autonomous Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicles in the US recently, to mirror the sensor and computing technology in its vehicles. The fleet will undergo further development, and ongoing tests will continue.
“This move sees our company shifting its autonomous vehicle efforts from a research programme into an advanced engineering project. It’s great to be able to move from a desktop or model to a fleet of fully autonomous cars on the road reaching commercialisation,” says De Waard.
Mobility alternatives
As well as there being an increased demand for sophisticated in-car technology, alternative mobility schemes such as car-sharing will also rise in popularity, De Waard believes. The manufacturer has announced 25 global Ford Smart Mobility experiments – several of which are located in London, and include projects that will test different ways of alleviating congestion in dense urban areas. Its GoDrive car-sharing service offers flexible, practical and affordable access to a fleet of cars for one-way journeys, with easy parking throughout the city.
“One of the approaches we’re working on already with parking authorities is to be able to identify parking spaces,” says De Waard. “The satnav and parking system in the car can be integrated, so that if you’re driving into London you can pre-book a space – and drive straight in.”
Regional variation
Unsurprisingly, interests in specific assistance technologies vary across Europe, Ford’s survey found. For example, drivers in the Netherlands specify the most cars with cruise control (85%), ahead of Finland (78%) and Norway (74%).
“When it comes to car buyers’ tastes, a few things remain consistent over the years, and many aspects change and evolve,” says De Waard. “We study these changes – and some can be surprising – to better serve our customers across Europe.”
Continuous change
Multiple forces are changing the mobility landscape and affording consumers more choice than ever, the survey indicates. For companies such as Ford, these shifting consumer demands result in complex questions that may ultimately affect their products and how they engage with their customers. The big challenge for manufacturers is to stay ahead of their customers’ changing mobility needs.
“While autonomous vehicles may still be a long way off, drivers across Europe are showing an increasing appetite for exactly the kind of semi-autonomous technologies that are the building blocks of tomorrow’s self-driving cars,” says De Waard.