Top: The 25 indicators of the Radar. Middle: The global view. Bottom: the US, with the global results shown by the heavy outline. Source: Roland Berger. Click to enlarge.

The first edition of the Radar finds that autonomous driving and electric cars enjoy widespread acceptance among the global customer base. As many as 46% of consumers worldwide would not buy a car again if they had self-driving taxis, otherwise known as robocabs, at their disposal at lower cost. Moreover, 37% of consumers are already considering buying an electric vehicle for their next car.

Customers in Singapore and China express the strongest interest in new mobility concepts. 84% of study participants in Singapore and 83% in China said that they knew at least one person who had not bothered to buy their own car. Car sharing and ride sharing models meet with less of a positive response in other leading economic nations like the UK (37%), France (34%) and Japan (29%). The USA ranks last here with 22%.

It is particularly consumers in countries with a high population density such as The Netherlands (59%), Japan (56%) and Singapore (51%) who can imagine using robocabs and not having their own car. Germany follows closely with almost 47%. Customers in large countries like the USA (35%), India (33%) and China (27%), on the other hand, are less open to the idea.

Electromobility is another area in which the Automotive Disruption Radar highlights significant regional variation. Customers from China express an overwhelmingly positive attitude toward electric vehicles. 60% are considering buying an EV as their next car. In South Korea too (54%) more than half of respondents would consider an electric car. Customers from Europe, Japan, South Korea and the USA view the high prices as the main barrier to the purchase of such a vehicle.