Study: Driverless Cars to Be 15% of Global Auto Sales By 2030, and How Ride-Sharing Companies Can Actually Help Grow Auto Market

Jennifer van der Kleut

One consulting firm that studies auto trends has no doubts about the promises that several car companies have made recently-in particular, that fully autonomous cars will be experiencing mass-market sales by 2030 or possibly earlier.

The firm, McKinsey & Company, has released findings from a new study on several auto trends, one of the biggest of which says that they believe 15 percent of global auto sales will consist of fully autonomous cars by 2030. Before that, the firm predicts mass-market sales will begin around 2020-2022.

Another big declaration of the study touches upon the impact of ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft, as well as any potential future ventures.

The study predicts that in the near-term, ridesharing companies will slow the annual growth of global auto sales, from the current average of 3.6 percent down to 2 percent.

However, in the long-term, the study says that growth will rebound, and that ridesharing companies will actually help it grow by a whopping 30 percent by 2030. By 2050, McKinsey & Company predicts that 1 in 3 cars sold globally will be a shared vehicle.

The study also touches upon the rate of adoption of electric vehicles. Thanks to the efforts like those of Ford, which is investing millions in electric vehicle infrastructure such as charging stations, McKinsey & Company predicts 15 to 20 percent of all new auto sales will be of electric cars by 2030.

Read more on McKinsey & Company’s full report by news outlets such as Detroit News, Bloomberg and CNBC.