FCA CEO Says Fully-Autonomous Driving Is 10 Years Away, EVs Not The Solution

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne was recently presented with an honorary degree in industrial engineering from the University of Trento and the outspoken executive used the occasion to tell students the company’s partnership with Waymo is part of a bigger push into autonomous vehicles.

According to Il Sole 24 Ore, Marchionne said “We believe that autonomous guidance will be a reality in a decade and that advanced guidance systems will play a crucial role in preparing lawmakers, consumers, and businesses for a world where control of the car will be passed into the hands of the car itself.”

The executive reportedly went on to suggest Maserati will be used to showcase its autonomous driving technology and it could be added to some of its models as soon as next year. The system appears to be relatively basic at this point but the executive hinted the company could offer a Level 3 system by 2021. Marchionne went on to say Level 4 and Level 5 systems will take even longer as they do “not depend on producers but on missing infrastructure.”

Marchionne added the company is working on electric vehicles but they are “not the solution for the future.” He brought up an old point by saying the company launched the Fiat 500e in California five years ago and lost $20,000 on every vehicle they sold. Given that result, he said a larger launch would have been an “act of masochism.”