That's not what I thought it was going to be:
I saw some concept car that was a little funky Japanese box of some sort that was sort of different and cool, that had four wheels that swiveled 90 degrees like casters - so you pull up next to the spot you want to park in on the street, push a button, and all four of your wheels rotate 90 degrees, and you just slide into the spot sideways like a drawer in a dresser - and can pull out that way too.
Obviously that was some sort of fantastical prototype concept car - it's sort of cool to see a more practical version on a production car.
But using the logic of "how you parallel park", along with some old-school technology of the 80's (maybe with some of the reliability we learned in the 90's and 00's), why not just come back out with cars that have 4-wheel steering - and then you wouldn't have to parallel park in reverse? Wouldn't it be nice to press a button that engages "symmetrical rear steering", and then you'd practically swivel into a parking spot - forwards rather than in reverse?
...plus all the benefits they used to tout with 4-wheel steering back in the 80's when some cars had it... benefits that could actually work, with today's computer technology [which would be a whole lot less advanced and less complex than is necessary for that mind-bogglingly complex and sophisticated system].
I'd rather that by a long shot - both because of the extra benefits, and because I don't think I'd want my car parking itself... how do you overcome the glitches? tough situations? No curb or vague street edge? What if your car won't fit? What if you want to park crooked for some reason [ie. unload trunk]?
Not that $4K on a $60K car isn't a good way to introduce this system - unload unproven technology on those who are willing to pay to be guinea pigs - that's just tradition.
