DETROIT -- Billions of dollars will be lost by many automakers that continue to invest in autonomous and electric vehicles while consumer buy-in remains low, a study from consulting firm AlixPartners says.
"The AlixPartners Global Automotive Outlook: What's Ahead for the Industry?" was presented to reporters of the Automotive Press Association on Wednesday. The study shows "a pile-up of epic proportions" awaits the auto industry, and that players should be both optimistic and cautious about EVs and AVs.
By 2023, $255 billion in r&d and capital expenditures will be spent globally on more than 200 electric vehicle models, according to the study, up from roughly $25 billion spent in the last eight years.
An additional $61 billion has been set aside for autonomous vehicle technologies -- but consumers say they are only willing to pay about $2,300 extra for autonomy. Current costs are around $22,900 per vehicle.
John Hoffecker, global vice chairman at AlixPartners, told reporters this presents challenges and risks.
"We are moving from an internal-combustion world where people buy their own cars to a world where you're going to have electric being the dominance of it, and autonomous being a key driver of it," Hoffecker said. "What autonomous does is changes things in our view even more than what electric does or anything else we've seen before."
The study says the global auto market will grow at an annual rate of 2.4 percent through 2025, dragging behind expected worldwide GDP growth of 3.3 percent.