Are ridesharing services ending the auto industry by lowering the need for car ownership?
Read that lyft and uber-like services are slowly killing off car ownership by lowering the need fo the layperson to own a car. Especially given their IPOs this year, what do you think are the consequences of such a change in our economy? Do you think self driving cars will eventually re-stimulate the auto industry?
Yes, SDC will revolutionize the auto industry. No, it won't happen in our lifetime. Yes, SDC will happen in 20-30 years, but people will continue to own cars for the next 40-60 years. I work on SDC computer vision.
The breakeven point for owning vs ride-sharing is 3,500 miles I guess. More than 90% of drivers in the US exceed that at present. (source - some McKinsey article I read a few weeks ago). Also, fewer cars on the road isn't directly proportional to fewer car sales (need to account for life cycle, scrap value, usage and a bunch of other stuff). Is a change coming? YES! In its own time.
Definitely has apart to play. Changing demographics and people moving to cities (and not wanting to own cars in them) are going to slowly cause the auto industry to go into decline.
Found the Minister of Finance of India.
Great points in this post . I'd like to add that Uber and ride share in general really only impact ownership of inner city and near city dwellers . In a place like Texas for instance you couldn't get much done for yourself if you had to call an Uber all the time and lived anywhere near the suburbs.
No. It only makes having cars serviced easier.