You’ll never drive alone: Impacts of carsharing on the automotive industry
17/11/2016
Carsharing as a mobility concept is predicted to increase rapidly in years to come. Especially for Asian megacities carsharing is regarded as an important approach to solve mobility problems. Automotive OEMs and suppliers are now worried about a decrease in car sales because one vehicle used for carsharing can replace up to six private cars.
We at Schlegel und Partner are, however, somewhat more relaxed regarding the future impacts of carsharing on the automotive industry. One important aspect is that the shift towards vehicle sharing will not necessarily result in a decrease of motorized mobility, but can, on the contrary, boost the number of car rides. This is especially the case when carsharing is regarded as a convenient alternative to public transport or when it opens up new mobility perspectives for people who were previously reluctant to buy a car (e.g. students with lower income).
In most megacities, the use of carsharing currently fails to generate any additional benefit over the use of a privately owned car, a taxi or the metro, because of the general traffic congestion situation. A third argument for our rather modest forecast for the future of carsharing is that it is not only an alternative to a privately-owned car, but is in competition with the traditional car rental market and urban car shuttle and taxi services. Schlegel und Partner therefore estimates that the carsharing-fleets’ share of the total light vehicle universe will remain below 0.1% in 2020, even under the most favourable conditions. Carsharing influences the design of future cars in the direction of robustness, easy handling and flexibility. For many players in the automotive industry, however, these changes will long go largely unnoticed.Are you interested in more background information, technical and strategic concepts, or regional details?
Please contact us.© Schlegel und Partner 2016
In most megacities, the use of carsharing currently fails to generate any additional benefit over the use of a privately owned car, a taxi or the metro, because of the general traffic congestion situation. A third argument for our rather modest forecast for the future of carsharing is that it is not only an alternative to a privately-owned car, but is in competition with the traditional car rental market and urban car shuttle and taxi services. Schlegel und Partner therefore estimates that the carsharing-fleets’ share of the total light vehicle universe will remain below 0.1% in 2020, even under the most favourable conditions. Carsharing influences the design of future cars in the direction of robustness, easy handling and flexibility. For many players in the automotive industry, however, these changes will long go largely unnoticed.Are you interested in more background information, technical and strategic concepts, or regional details?
Please contact us.© Schlegel und Partner 2016