Atlanta, GA, December 05, 2018 – In a series of surveys conducted by Cushman & Wakefield onsite at CoreNet Global Summits in North America, Asia, and Europe, corporate real estate executives predict that the prevalence of autonomous vehicles (AV) will occur between 2025 and 2034.

However, a fifth of respondents don’t expect AV dominance to happen until after 2040. Pessimism is highest in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). Only half of the respondents from companies whose headquarters are in EMEA expect this to take place by 2034, compared to 74 percent of Asia Pacific and 77 percent of American respondents. Additionally, 21 percent of EMEA CRE executives believe it won’t happen before 2050.

The survey also gauged various impacts of the advent of autonomous vehicles:

• AV technology will not impact the quantity of office space required by most companies. This is consistently true across regions and business sectors.
• One-fourth of respondents expect to have a difficult (and/or costly) time repurposing parking facilities in their portfolio that become obsolete with the implementation of AV technology. This is a significantly larger issue for companies whose headquarters are in the Americas.
• Nearly twice as many Asia Pacific-headquartered companies expect telecommuting to increase (33%) as opposed to decreasing (18%).
• Confidence is high that time currently spent driving or actively commuting will be replaced by work activities. Overall, 69% of respondents indicate they will use the time saved by AVs to either conduct business phone calls or complete work. This expectation is highest for CRE executives who live in the Americas (76 percent) and lowest in EMEA (59 percent). Respondents who live in EMEA are nearly twice as likely to use the time for entertainment.

Cushman & Wakefield, in partnership with CoreNet Global, conducted a 10-question survey on the impact that autonomous/driverless vehicles (AVs) are expected to have on businesses and their real estate decisions. Responses were collected from attendees at the 2017-2018 CoreNet Global Summits in Seattle, London, and Singapore. The 500 responses represent corporate real estate executives from companies headquartered all around the globe.

About CoreNet Global

CoreNet Global is the world’s leading professional association for corporate real estate (CRE) and workplace executives, service providers, and economic developers. CoreNet Global’s more than 11,000 members, who include 70% of the top 100 U.S. companies and nearly half of the Global 2000, meet locally, globally and virtually to develop networks, share knowledge, learn and thrive professionally. For more information, please visit www.corenetglobal.org.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value by putting ideas into action for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with 48,000 employees in approximately 400 offices and 70 countries. In 2017, the firm had revenue of $6.9 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation, and other services. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.