«I think it was the head of the self-driving division at Google. When we asked him, “When do you think, we will find self-driving cars in cities?” He said, “We

«I think it was the head of the self-driving division at Google. When we asked him, “When do you think, we will find self-driving cars in cities?” He said, “Well, I have a daughter who is 10 years old. And I think by the time she’s the age of having a driving license, I hope that the Google car will be operational in the city.” So that was about 10 years ago.» – Alain Bertaud Having worked in the automotive sector of German and Japanese carmakers, with European, Japanese and American plants I have to say news coverage on the industry to me has devolved into something more resemblant of sports gossip. I.E. there is an immense audacity of bystanders with zero experience in the field to make bold claims about things like what the customers really want (the fans), which technology really works (the strategy) or what kind of fallacies CEOs and engineers fall for (team-management) that these bystanders apparently all get. The car is one of the most successful products in history, I'd like to call it the German iPhone (although it took Americans to make it a mass-market product in the first place). And like the iPhone it has left its visible imprint in our public life. If you think digital detox is a thing, wait for how much bad rep smartphones will get in 50 years (if they continue to exist). Cars shape our surroundings for over hundred years now. It is no wonder then that cars get to be the scapegoat for all sorts of things. And it is no wonder that people have highly politicized arguments about technologies, markets and processes of which they have zilch experience whatsoever except their own filter bubble inflaters. Go to HN and say something positive about Tesla and watch how you get downvoted. Say something negative and watch how much faster you'll get downvoted. SUV drivers are getting socially leprous [1][2] although it is the strongest selling car of the last decades. Talking about the automotive sector has become toxic. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_lz0diqWJU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_lz0diqWJU [2] https://www.tz.de/muenchen/muenchen-suv-fahrer-werden-boese-angefeindet-zettel-auf-autos-zr-12837650.html https://www.tz.de/muenchen/muenchen-suv-fahrer-werden-boese-...