Why Volkswagen believes Waymo and Tesla are vulnerable in the $500 billion Robotaxi race – “Winners take all markets”

Angry residents Transportation conethe city’s fire department chief himself would do so. Regularly malignant They are dangerous nuisances. Even today, during the recent outbreak of civil unrest over a massive deportation in Los Angeles, protesters have caused hundreds of thousands of dollars when they purposely torched Waymo Cars.

One old economy company preparing to enter the autonomous ride space is taking a completely different approach when it launches next year. German Volkswagen is stakes on society as a whole. I’m getting more and more tired of the collateral damage left behind by Silicon Valley’s fast and split mentality.

“Our approach is different. We want to act intentionally as a partner who builds on existing infrastructure,” said VW Group executive Sascha Meyer. luck Robotaxi test drive. “We believe that the key point of social acceptance we believe is a service provider that is desired to exist because it doesn’t compete with systems already in place.”

This week, VW revealed a series production version of an autonomous riding cab based on a retro-style VW ID. Buzz EV microbus. Packaged together with the required fleet management software and digital customer booking platform, we want to provide local transport and other commercial fleets with turnkey solutions that can be easily integrated into our services.

woymo or a Tesla Plans to compete with existing providers, the German automaker aims to become equal partners working at Grove along with the community seeking their help.

Huge growth projected on an autonomous ride over the next decade

Even if the first 500 vehicles are not deployed to Uber for use in Los Angeles until next year, VW believes it’s just beginning a market share race.

Of the 350 billion euros of revenue, I’m sure there’s enough demand to grab a sip. McKinsey Projects for autonomous driving service in North America and Europe by 2035. This is a growth rate of over $50 trillion over the next decade.

Meyer operates Moia, a Mobility Services subsidiary of VW Group, and offers a high-tech version of the Zero-Emission Volkswagen ID. Buzz Electric Minivans have an ecosystem of back-end software around them.

luck I had the opportunity to ride with Meyer as Lobotakshi was constantly navigating through the busy streets of Hamburg by a safety driver behind the wheels. Here in Germany’s second largest city, Volkswagen has been quietly testing the technology for several years thanks to the active support of city authorities.

Public transport in Europe is difficult to get around

White Label Service Volkswagen has in mind that it has something that every customer needs to do. They are ready to hit the logo on their vehicles and decorate customer front ends with their respective corporate identities.

The group’s to-market strategy frequently incorporates public transport, an approach that has been influenced by European roots. With a rich, abundant, well-built mass transport network, these primarily state-owned enterprises play a role in urban, suburban and former urban mobility, making them difficult to replace.

For example, consider the BVG authorities run by the German capital of Berlin, which VW Group already owns. signatureA letter of intent. 3 million people Everyday transportation needs are entrusted to a fine meshed web of buses, trams, subways and commuter trains, travelling back and forth to metropolitan areas every day. The BVG brand Robotaxi, integrated into its service, should see much faster adoption than Volkswagen.

Cooperate with the automakers used to work with state officials

In a sense, VW’s partnership approach to the market is naturally fitted. Automakers have decades of experience working closely with regulators from various state and federal agencies to ensure that their vehicles meet traffic safety and environmental standards.

But in Silicon Valley, regulators are often seen as suspicious. The Robotaxi developer’s cruise flaw proved it: Destiny followed October 2023 San Francisco accident, high-tech startup intentionally Withhold important information From the crash investigator, what will you crush? trust Placed on them by the state of California Just a few weeks ago.

When you own a cruise General Motors Okay, it acted quickly Sidelines CEOBut by then it was too late and reputational damage was done. Cruise stopped all operations and GM I was pulled out The autonomous ride race in December.

Already with Crosstown rival Ford Give up And sooner, Volkswagen Hyundaithrough it Exercise assistanceI’m still fighting Legacy car industry. The rest are AI tech companies like Waymo and Tesla. Amazon subsidiary ZAMX So are foreign equivalents like China’s Baidu and British Wave.

Not all markets for winners

Of course, Meyer knows there is a good start to the competition, not being willing to hand over.

“Waymo has an uncontroversial lead, but that’s clear. luck.

Then there’s Tesla. Tesla is set to launch on Sunday and is preparing to launch its own pilot in Austin. Meyer quickly admits that it could only be a matter of time before Tesla can graduate to full commercial Robotaxi services, but he believes everything will not be lost.

One, neither of them exists in Europe. This is a market that is much more risk-averse to unproven technology and is known for quickly regulating it by opposing threats to public safety. Tesla’s proud fully autonomous driving (FSD) feature is a software stack that infuses Robotaxis into the intelligence you need, and has yet to be approved for use anywhere on the continent. In fact, it cannot be used as an advanced driver assist.

This provides ample opportunity for Volkswagen to greenlight production of at least 10,000 Robotaxi vehicles. And even if Waymo and Tesla remained on the lead when VW is ready, Meyer believes that the community will require some healthy competition among autonomous ride appeal providers to ensure optimal service at a low cost.

“Even in the US, if you have monopoly, you can’t be happy,” he said. “We don’t think it will be the whole market for winners.”