In an interview with our sister publication Autocar UK, Lultz Meschke, Head of Finance and IT, Porsche, has affirmed that it will keep its sportscars human-driven as long as law enforcement allows.
Meschke made it clear that Porsche will leave it on drivers to choose to drive or be driven by the car as the automaker has chosen to be one of the latest to offer cars without a steering wheel. Even though Porsche has kept driverless technology as part of its global strategy, it will be the decision of the driver wish to switch to this feature in traffic jams or parking spots.
Meschke also elaborated about autonomous technology and its engagement with the driver and the car via the ‘Mark Webber’ function. This drives the car around a track in the style of a racing driver – demonstrating perfect lines and braking timings.
“We see digitalisation and autonomous driving not as a threat; but as a tremendous opportunity,” says Meschke. Porsche plans to materialize this opportunity in the mid-term, as it plans to get 10 percent of its business from digital services. On-demand car-sharing schemes are the top spot of the list. Another example is the ‘Porsche Shield’ on-demand track insurance already available to customers in Germany.
The carmaker is also upgrading to over-the-air and on-demand software updates for its cars in the future, in tandem with its Volkswagen Group stablemates. “It would be possible to combine modules from the area of autonomous driving, individually," said Meschke. "Imagine that you could use a software update to download a few more horsepower over-the-air at short notice if you want to head to the race track on the weekend – or dynamic headlights if you are headed for a long night drive.”
Porsche is open to work with other firms to make this happen to make these digital technologies even more profitable.