Self-Driven Cars Could Cut Future Sales By 40 Percent: Barclays

Banking and finances groups Barclays predicts the arrival of autonomous cars could cut new car sales by up to 40 percent over the coming decades.

In a report titled “Disruptive Mobility”, the group foresees the gradual decline in sales over a 25-year period, as fully self-driven cars slowly become the mainstream offering in showrooms around the world.

Brian Johnson, an analyst with Barclays, predicts that nearly half of all urban families will become one-car households, while car-sharing programs will become the norm for many. 

Autonomous cars will be able to park themselves, and can be directed to drive themselves from one family appointment to the next, such as taking children to and from school.

This would likely see cars travel much further in a year than they do now, the report predicts, but only one car will be required for a family to go about its daily business.

Johnson says that, as a result, global carmakers will be forced to dramatically reduce output to match an anticipated drop in demand. 

“GM and Ford would need to reduce North American production by up to 68 percent and 58 percent, respectively," Johnson said. 

Taxis