U.S. consumers growing more comfortable with autonomous rides, Wedbush finds

[Alphabet Waymo Storage Facility in San Francisco]
JasonDoiy

U.S. consumers are warming up to autonomous vehicles (AV), as new survey data from Wedbush suggested that there has been a healthy expansion in the levels of consumer adoption.

According to the survey, about a third of U.S. consumers have taken a ridesharing trip in an AV in the past three months.

The satisfaction levels were also high, with 92% of respondents who have taken a ridesharing trip in an AV being satisfied to some extent, which is an improvement from 89% in the last survey. About two-thirds of the respondents also expect their AV use to increase over the next three months.

"In recent months, the competitive landscape for AV operators has intensified. In our view, several of Waymo's partnerships over the last year, including the Lyft announcement, further suggest that Uber has lost its perceived position as the exclusive partner for Waymo expansion," Wedbush's Scott Devitt said.

"While both Uber/Lyft are positioning themselves as beneficiaries of AV expansion, we believe the perceived benefit will flip once the distribution need for the "autonomous on training wheels" phase of development is complete," Devitt added.

Devitt also believes that the data about the outlook of consumers choosing more AV is overall positive and suggests optimistic consumer sentiment around AV adoption for ridesharing.

"While the near-term financial impact to established ridesharing platforms is limited, over time, we expect AVs will disrupt the current status quo. Our analysis from June suggests that ~40% ofUber’s mobility gross bookings are most exposed to potential AV risk, with a similar proportion of Lyft’s core business," Devitt said.

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