Yahoo Finance 'Driving still matters to people:' Toyota Canada's future not one of automated pods, says CEO
Toyota Canada’s chief executive says the company’s future will focus on people’s love of driving, something he says some automakers have forgotten in the drive to develop self-driving vehicles.
Speaking at a media event on Tuesday ahead of the opening of the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, Larry Hutchinson said autonomous vehicles will not be ready to hit the roads “for a long, long time” and that consumers are not ready – nor do they necessarily want – to become passive passengers in self-driving cars.
He argued that in the aggressive pursuit of bringing self-driving cars to the road, automakers have forgotten about the consumer’s passion for driving.
“(Automakers) seem to be so focused on the ‘next big thing’ – on the self-driving, electric pod – that they’re forgetting driving is fun and empowering,” he said.
“If you look at the concept vehicles this type of future envisions, what you’ll often see is a bland autonomous pod that replaced the steering wheel with a computer screen and pillow. There is a role for the pod… but let’s be honest, who wants to travel in that?”
Automakers and technology companies around the world have been investing heavily in autonomous vehicle technology, racing to be the first to develop a self-driving car. Ford Motor says it will have a fully autonomous vehicle in commercial operation by 2021. General Motors has said it will produce an autonomous vehicle without pedals or a steering wheel at some point this year. In fact, the focus on autonomous vehicles was part of the justification GM gave when it announced it would be shutting down the Oshawa Assembly Plant and four others last November.
Hutchinson said the pod-style vehicles will play a role in the transportation ecosystem, likely delivering goods and services. But he says he doesn’t “believe in pods.”
“We’ve come to this conclusion: driving still matters to people,” he said.
“Some say the future is about automated pods. They’re betting everything on mobility as a service. Toyota believes in building better, more exciting products. I believe there will be more, not less, vehicle ownership in the future.”
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