John Gapper:

Car drivers are often to be seen these days with their heads down, texting or scanning social media on mobile phones. Some have halted at traffic lights but others drive at the same time, distracted by a digital world they find more entrancing than the physical one in front of them.

When I observe this, I think two things. The first is how dangerously they are behaving. The second is, when the time comes for cars to drive themselves, why would anyone buy one?

The same thought was prompted by Volkswagen’s decision this week to create a new brand called MOIA, not to make cars like its Porsche or Audi marques but to provide transport services. Its first effort will be a ride-hailing commuter shuttle service operating initially in Germany with electric vans.