Mercedes-Benz sees business potential in offering on-demand limousine services using driverless cars.
Thus the German carmaker aims to cater to a new customer base which is less attracted to vehicle ownership but still interested in using premium transportation services like limousines.
Daimler already has car2go, its own car-sharing service which allows subscribers to locate and rent a nearby vehicle from a fleet of Daimler-owned vehicles using a smartphone. It would be extremely practical if the car2go appeared without needing to be prompted, once the appointment in the calendar had come to an end.
In addition to building and selling cars, there is money to be made from the software to run a self-driving vehicle, as well as services associated with autonomous driving, such as mapping, car-sharing and car recharging services.