When it comes to safety, people intrinsically trust Volvo. It’s a brand practically synonymous with safety. Squint, and that sash running diagonal through the emblem on the grille resembles a seat belt. But lately safety has been a hard sell to car buyers who are primarily driven by styling and price. Autonomous vehicles could change that.
People trust themselves to drive, but are wary of other drivers on the road, and they really don’t trust machines to do the driving for them. A study conducted by Volvo examining how consumers feel about driving found that only 58% of people trust an autonomous vehicle to make decisions about safety. That skepticism could be a boon for the Swedish auto manufacturer, which has a reputation of being the industry’s equivalent of the school hall monitor.
Anders Tylman-Mikiewicz, Head of Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center (VMCC), discussed the company’s opportunity to leverage their brand trust to make them the forerunner in the autonomous car race.
“We are a human-centric company, and that includes keeping people alive,” he said during an interview, “You will trust an autonomous car from us because we have so much vested in safety.”
But automotive firm Navigant Research ranks Volvo fifth on its Leaderboard in strategy and execution in the race to build autonomous cars. The frontrunners on the list show Daimler at the top with Audi in second and BMW in third. However, Alexander Edwards, President of Strategic Visions which analyzes brand value and purchase intent, doesn’t put a lot of weight behind the ranking.
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