Waymo Could Dominate $2.8T Self-Driving Market

donnellyj

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23rd May 2018

Waymo might not be the household name that Google is, but the spin-off firm is poised to dominate a $2.8 trillion market for self-driving vehicles and technology, according to a report.

Earlier this month, UBS published a report that predicted self-driving technology, including the types of ride-sharing and taxi services that Waymo and others are creating, should be worth $2.8 trillion by 2030, according to the Financial Times.

Of that, Waymo could capture about 60% of the market, the investment bank concludes.

Right now, Waymo is such a dominant force in the market that only the biggest automakers — General Motors and Daimler, specifically — are able to keep up and invest in their own platforms.

“Very few players other than Waymo will be able to succeed with having an autonomous vehicle brain in the marketplace,” Patrick Hummel, an UBS analyst and the lead author of the report, told the FT.

The most lucrative part of the self-driving market is what the report calls “car-booking networks,” which includes monetizing the experience since the passengers in the vehicle are focused on other issues besides driving and navigating.

Again, Waymo is largely ahead of the curve.

Earlier this year, Waymo upped its game by teaming with Jaguar Land Rover to build 20,000 luxury, self-driving vehicles based on the car company’s I-PACE design.

These SUVs will eventually join with the company’s fleet of Chrysler Pacific minivans to form the backbone of a self-driving service that offers a wide range of services, including ride-sharing.

The Waymo Driverless Transportation Service is expected to start operating in Phoenix later this year and be open to the general public, according to CEO John Krafcik, who made the announcement at Google I/O earlier this month.

Waymo also has another advantage in public perception.

While Uber has suffered through a series of publicity nightmares, including a fatal accident involving a pedestrian and a self-driving Volvo earlier this year, Waymo has not only avoided those issues, but has continued to test its vehicles, both on public roads and on closed testing courses.