Roger Fingas
Silicon Valley tech companies are doing better than anticipated in the automotive realm, said Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche after he and other company executives concluded talks with dozens of firms in the region.
"Our impression was that these companies can do more and know more than we had previously assumed. At the same time they have more respect for our achievements than we thought," Zetsche told Germany's Welt am Sonntag, according to Reuters. The Daimler team met with roughly 70 companies in all.
"There were concrete talks. I will not say anything about the content," Zetsche continued. "It was not just about the fact that there is an innovative spirit in the Valley. We know that already. We wanted to see what drives it, and all the things that can be created from it."
Though the CEO didn't mention any of the visited companies by name, one of them may have been Apple. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has referred to Apple's electric car project as an "open secret," and while Apple is unlikely to have divulged many details, in the case of a company like Daimler it could be willing to acknowledge its interest or discuss potential partnerships.
Apple, Google, Tesla, and several traditional carmakers are all believed to be working on self-driving cars, though the first consumer models are likely several years away. Apple's for instance may not hit roads until 2019 or 2020, and even then the company may or may not decide to leave self-driving systems for later.
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
Charles Martin
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
11 Comments
I can see the work being done for self-driving cars as helping both simple and complex navigation and assisted driving (like self parking and automated braking) features but I just don't see self-driving vehicles being allowed or even working on most streets and freeways for many decades. I grew up with the Jetsons and their futuristic modes of transportation. I liked how self-driving vehicles were portrayed in iRobot but this movie also showed that humans need to continue to be responsible for their actions. I just can't see the vast majority of people giving up their ability to drive their own car, putting their life in the hands of a computer controlled car, especially after the fiasco in the Patriots and Broncos game yesterday. No, I'm not blaming Microsoft (haha) but I'm sure these self-driving cars will end up being in constant contact with some kind of distributed/centralized "driving" computer that ends up monitoring and coordinating all the vehicles on the road. This is the part that worries me the most.
The problem with the BIG 3 auto makers is that they have always thoughts to be bigger and better that their competition. They never though Nissan, Toyota, etc. would be selling the amount of cars that they are. They underestimated them for many many years and now they are fighting to gain back marketshare. Now these tech companies are getting into the industry and again the BIG 3 underestimated what these companies could do and they will lose out again. Tesla has already been successful and are doing the most innovative things in the market currently. I own a car shipping company, so I get to see the vehicles, be inside them, know what customers like and don't like. People are wanting more tech cars and want to be more environmentally friendly which is why Tesla is doing great and other companies are striving to get a car out to compete with Tesla. Google and Apple will come along and really change the landscape of the auto industry as we know it. You all just wait and see.