Volvo Says Self Driving Feature Will Add Almost $15K To The MSRP - Still Willing To Pay The Price?

The article quotes Eric Coelingh, Volvo’s head of autonomous driving, as saying “…We are talking processors measured in gigabytes, rather than the kilobytes we have now…”

Processors are not measured in gigabytes or kilobytes; storage is. Assuming this is not a misquote, I’d say that Coelingh’s apparent lack of understanding of computing fundamentals could also lead to a lack of understanding of the retail impact of an autonomous option.

The current automotive market uses “what the market will bear” markups for various options, like a Navigation system that lists for $3,000 in the option book, or a luxury car manufacturer listing a number of bundled drive-assist options for $8,000 while Honda provides the same functionality for less than a quarter of the price.

If Volvo says your car becomes autonomous for an additional $14,600, then I suggest they work aggressively to bring that price down and become more competitive, because someone else will.

not sure why anyone will pay over $20k for a car. Count me out! cALLING uBER

jameswisrik: These points immediately come to mind...
(1) I like driving
(2) My car means more to me that A-to-B transportation
(3) I appreciate a number of qualities I find in premium cars that I don't find in less expensive cars

I comes down to what *I* value, and I respect that others might not.

Lease don't buy plus expect big insurance price hike. You do not want to own one of these out of warranty which raises the question about resale values as cars move down the economic strata.

Exactly. Then when the idiot, inattentive, irresponsible driver experiences a software malfunction, he will play the victim and sue sue sue.

How about having a law where if an autonomous vehicle causes a wreck the owner is 100% responsible and absolve the manufacturer from liability. Who then would be clamoring for autonomous cars? NO ONE.

I may just buy one and hope the damn thing gets into a wreck so I can sue.

I think I'd pay an extra 15K on top of that to just let the whole damn thing die. More and more computers are "living life" for us. Who seriously wants to live in a world where driving your own car will be against the law because computers can do it better. Where do we draw the line? Its like that movie with Bruce Willis where people sit in canisters and an avatar lives the life for them. I may not live long enough to see that day... but I feel sorry for kids growing up.

Keep in minds that Tesla's "autopilot" is merely a driver assist system at this time. It is NOT an autonomous system, and that's what the article is talking about. So the comparison becomes Apples And Oranges.