@Martin
The problem is that the BMW past = motoring, petroling, driving pleasure, joy of driving, ultimate driving machine. And we (still) don't know if that's going to be available in the future as well. Celebrating the motoring & driving ... and emphasizing that in communication ... is not wise right now. Especially when the company is about to reposition itself for the future.
@Rob
It's not about New Order and / or any other semi-conspiracy theory. It's not that anybody is pushing the tech and the solutions. It's all market driven. Not by the current market but the future one. And future markets (especially the demand side) is very analytically & thoroughly researched via various consumer behavior researches etc. And so is trend detection. Trend hunting is blooming. And by gathering such info the industry is motivated to supply & provide certain tech & product to the FUTURE customers.
When only researching & analyzing current market situation (especially the demand) you don't get such data. It's all about trends.
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Millennials are very conscious about free time - and they don't want to spend any extra time for errands & activities that can be automated or properly managed via IT. And to Mellenials communication & entertainment is of much greater value than driving itself.
Autonomous driving brings the best point of public transport to the individual private transport: you don't have to bother about driving anymore, making commuting much less stressful ... while enjoying all the comfort & privacy of individual transport.
Few years ago Uber sounded like a very obnoxious idea - a redundant alternative to regular taxi services that nobody really needs. What about today?
Now imagine autonomous car fleets providing commuting services: either taxi-like ones or car-sharing ones. It's the future.
As said many times: also the relationship with cars will change. Shifting from owning to sharing. Personal mobility solutions. Even within public transport.
Sure privately owned cars will still have a manual modes - incl. Sport modes. But I guess they won't work in all areas.
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Also there's still a moral dilemma when it comes to autonomous driving. How to program the auto pilot to react in lose-lose situations. Who to protect first & best: the passengers in the car, or the pedestrian / cyclist outside. Imagine the situation: a heavy truck is approaching from the opposite direction; a young mother with a baby in a trolley is walking down the pavement; a little girl just cycles on the road ... a collision is inevitable. How to program the algorithm for such case. Should our car run into a little girl; should it steer into a woman with a baby in a trolley; or should it steer into a heavy truck. So, who should the algorithm endanger or even kill. How to write such algorithm at all? There's moral dilemma since priorities would have to be set: whose health & life is more valuable.
And IMHO that's the dilemma that can't be overcome that easily. And therefore that's IMHO the biggest obstacle for autonomous driving - not the limitation of the tech. Sensors, radars, cameras, processors, batteries, superfast internet, gesture control UI etc will be ready in few years. But the moral dilemma won't be resolved by then IMHO.
