5:30 pm, March 9, 2017
THE appetite for investing in driverless vehicles is growing dramatically across the UK, as the results of a recently commissioned survey reveal.
A research project designed to identify the level of interest amongst a cross section of 1000 UK investors, commissioned by international law firm Gowling WLG & research agency Explain the Market, found that 64 per cent believe driverless cars will be on UK roads within 10 years.
Furthermore, the research found that 67 per cent are considering investing in the sector either now or in the future, demonstrating a clear indication that there is a desire to capitalise on the next generation of road transport.
More than 10 per cent of investors already claim to be actively investing in the sector. Yorkshire and London have almost double the number of autonomous vehicle (AV) investors than anywhere else in the UK, with 17 per cent in each region. However, an apparent lack of information about this form of transport is holding some back from taking steps towards investment, to the tune of 70 per cent of respondents nationwide.
A lack of regulation and rules around how driverless cars will operate is preventing almost half of those spoken to (47 per cent) from speculating. Investors also claim that the availability of expert advice on the sector and information on AV companies are critically important.
Wales and Northern Ireland are the areas where the most people (70 per cent) are considering making a future investment in the AV sector. Investors in the South West of England cite ‘access to expert AV market advice’ as the most important factor in deciding whether to invest.
The link between Smart Cities and AV investment is a major factor in Northern Ireland, where 75 per cent of all investors based in Northern Ireland consider the progress of Smart Cities projects a major factor to consider before making an AV investment.
The East Midlands has the highest number of investors who desire more information about investing (78 per cent). The North West has the least number of people currently investing in the AV sector, but at the same time has more people considering making an investment than anywhere else in England.
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