Automakers are always struggling to develop newer and better technology. With more and more consumers looking up to the tech industry for solutions for their daily problems, automakers are starting to feel the pressure to innovate even further, developing their own technological solutions to the problems of everyday drivers.
According to a recent report on how Silicon Valley is planning to develop their own vehicles, the auto industry may not be the only one struggling when it comes to designing cars that everyone will want.
Reports show that as the tech industry develops autonomous car technologies as well as car-to-car communication systems, they also begin to notice that designing vehicles is not the same as designing smartphones.
Industry veterans agree: developing cars comes with great costs and other difficulties that may scare tech giants enough to keep them from getting involved.
Recalls, Other Costs Could Scare Tech Giants
To experts, some of the costs associated with the car making industry are also related to recalls.
In 2014, the industry recalled 64 million vehicles. To many experts, the number of vehicles recalled in 2015 will be much higher.
General Motors, for instance, must spend over $5 billion to pay for fines and victim compensation claims due to one of its recalls. Companies like Toyota and Volkswagen are also having similar problems, having to spend $1.2 billion and $7.3 billion respectively to cover for fines and other issues linked to defects.
Auto industry veterans believe that Silicon Valley ‘techies’ are smart, but not smart enough to beat the problems that continue to haunt automakers globally.
To these veterans, tech companies will have to pay the same high prices to make sure vehicles are ready to be commercialized in a massive scale. They believe that once the tech industry sees how much hard work this effort requires, they will soon drop the ball, ignoring their promises.
But do they have a point?
Alphabet, the company that runs Google and its affiliated business has been working for the bast six years on developing vehicles that can drive without the help of humans. To Alphabet, developing the technology is easy, but making cars from scratch is something completely different.
What Google is now planning on doing is to develop a safe technology that can be used by other automakers in their own vehicles.
Apple, on the other hand, has chosen to refrain from reporting on whether it will develop its own vehicles or not.
So far, all we know is that Apple’s CEO wants to give drivers the iPhone experience. And how does he want to accomplish that in the near future? By developing software for automakers known as CarPlay. The technology would allow drivers to use iPhones and the voice-activated assistant Siri to make sure that the electronic controls and entertainment systems can be fully automated with voice commands.
To Tesla, another Silicon Valley company, has already reported that it’s working on its own series of self-driving vehicles. Admired for its elegant vehicles that are emissions-free and super packed with technology, the company continues to exist without making any profit.
According to many reports, the 12-year-old automaker has only produced three vehicles that cost more than $70,000 each. Its 2015 car production accounts for only two days’ worth of General Motors car production.For more on how the tech industry could face several obstacles if it decides to venture into developing their own car fleet, follow this link.