Uber CEO Travis Kalanick says India will be the last place to get autonomous cars

tech2 News StaffDec 15, 2016 19:57:19 IST

In an interview with CNBC TV 18, Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick in a lighter mood said that Indian will be the last place on earth to get the company's self-driving cars. The CEO of the global radio cab service that recently announced its self-driving taxis in San Francisco said that it was almost next to impossible to have self-driving cars run about in India.

His reasons for the same were fairly straightforward and to do with driving patterns that road users and drivers or riders follow, "India will be the last one to get autonomous cars! Have you see the way people drive here?" Coming from the US, Kalanick found it a bit frightening as to how drivers in India make their way through the streets.

Commenting on when he thinks driverless cars would arrive in India, Kalanick said that it all depends on where you are. He gave a simple example of starting driverless cars in the middle of a desert because there's simply no people or regulations to worry about. The same applies to different cities around the world and the same would apply differently to different cities in India as well. Apart from this, using driverless cars for taxis would also depend on driving patterns of the motorists within that city.

When it came to Indian startups taking a stand against against the foreign cab operator. Kalanick commented that both Uber and Ola had equal foreign investments and so the competition is technically on the same ground. "I will apply to be a citizen of India if this is what it takes to get over the hump!" said the CEO when quizzed about being a foreigner operating in India. The co-founder also said that service had its quickest entry into the China market compared to any other country. Germany and Seoul had the most interesting laws to protect their local taxi communities.

The CEO was on his tour of India and stopped by in Hyderabad where he announced the company's plans to launch UberMoto, a motorbike-sharing service. “It’s a quick, easy and affordable way to get around the city. And it’s great to be working with a progressive, forward thinking government like Telangana on smart mobility solutions that can help reduce congestion in urban areas,” said Kalanick after meeting Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in a report by the Indo Asian New Service.