The thesis addresses development of autonomous vehicles and their future implications in a sharing economy. Right now, autonomous vehicles are still in a research and development phase, but numerous of powerful stakeholders are already forming partnerships in order to strengthen their position on future transportation markets. Based on theories of innovation and dominant design, the thesis will analyze the development of autonomous vehicles with a focus on the interplay between technology developers, ride-hailing service providers, and automakers.
This research will examine essential pillars of autonomous technology that are the basic foundation of the autonomous driving intelligence. Once the connection between autonomous vehicles and sharing economy is explained, the research will analyze the market and governance formation. Study further emphasize on which ride-haling service providers have currently the highest chance to acquire a dominant design and become a market leader in providing autonomous on-demand transportation.