Skip to main content

Rising awareness of car sharing concept set to increase uptake

According to Frost and Sullivan, whilst car sharing as a concept has existed for several years, the uptake rates and emergence of new players in the traditional as well as peer to peer (P2P) car sharing market has proliferated in the last five years. Member numbers increased by over 90 per cent between 2008 and 2012, growing from 500,000 to over 940,000 and, says Frost & Sullivan, this trend is set to continue. In an forthcoming web conference, Car Sharing – The Voice of the Consumer, on Tuesday, 14 May 201
May 7, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
According to Frost and Sullivan, whilst car sharing as a concept has existed for several years, the uptake rates and emergence of new players in the traditional as well as peer to peer (P2P) car sharing market has proliferated in the last five years. Member numbers increased by over 90 per cent between 2008 and 2012, growing from 500,000 to over 940,000 and, says Frost & Sullivan, this trend is set to continue.

In an forthcoming web conference, Car Sharing – The Voice of the Consumer, on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at 3.00 p.m. BST, Frost & Sullivan mobility programme manager, Mr Martyn Briggs, and programme manager, Mr Mohamed Mubarak, will present the latest findings from a customer research study on consumer profiles of members currently using car sharing services, including their preferences and aspirations for the car sharing concept in future. The idea of this voice of the consumer study was also to understand from non-members what would encourage them to join such new mobility services, as well as their idea of a ‘winning concept’.

A targeted survey of over 2,300 people was conducted in a total of 12 cities in the UK (London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Edinburgh), France (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse), and Germany (Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and Cologne). The study used the ‘adaptive choice based conjoint’ methodology that enables the possibility to create different simulations of car sharing models and generate the respective pricing and market share. The web conference will now give an overview regarding transport usage and commuting profiles, the customer’s/member’s perspective on the current and future usage of car sharing services and the willingness to pay for the service, existing car sharing member profiles, as well as familiarity, interest and adoption amongst non-members.

“Our research revealed a potential for over 15 million car sharing members in Europe alone by 2020, but there is a lot of education and behavioural change amongst consumers’ mobility patterns that need to take place to achieve such growth,” outlines Mr Briggs. “The voice of the consumer survey yielded interesting results; for example, the majority of car sharing members (53 per cent) were under 34, degree educated (67 per cent), and did not own a car (51 per cent).”

The survey also illustrates that the market for P2P car sharing is still in its nascent stage and is expected to co-exist with traditional car sharing. The interest in using someone else's car is higher than the interest to providing own car to be used by others. Surprisingly, there exists a correlation between the interest in becoming a car sharing member and the interest in providing the own car to be used by others.

From those of the whole sample, who currently own a car and are considering joining a car sharing service, over 40 per cent would consider selling their vehicle. This underlines the continued downward trend in car ownership in major cities that adopt car sharing services.

To participate in the complementary web conference, or receive a recorded version of the briefing, please email full contact details to Katja Feick at katja.feick@frost.

Related Content

  • AT&T shows connected car of the future
    January 14, 2013
    AT&T is joining the connected car market, with the unveiling of its connected car program at the recent Consumer Electronics Show. According to AT&T mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega, analysts expect more than 20 million connected cars will take to the road in the next three years, and AT&T wants to be at the forefront of this emerging market. The company demonstrated its intentions in a video showing the kind of technologies that can be expect its vision of the future connected car, including biometric sensors
  • TomTom traffic index shows increase in UK congestion
    April 1, 2015
    TomTom’s today 5th annual Traffic Index, the barometer of traffic congestion in over 200 cities worldwide, reveals rising congestion levels around the globe In addition, for the first time, the Index took an in-depth look at the true impact of rush hour traffic on the work week, uncovering that evening rush hour nearly doubles the journey time for car commuters. The analysis of 12 trillion pieces of traffic data worldwide revealed that the evening rush hour is the most congested time of day. Traffic co
  • Half of top OEMs work on LiDAR technology for ADAS
    October 13, 2015
    Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology, as part of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) sensor suite, will be mostly deployed for active safety functions with only 29 per cent fitted for fully automated driving purposes by 2021, according to Frost & Sullivan. Out of the top 13 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), seven are working on automated driving passenger vehicles using a LiDAR. Frost & Sullivan’s latest analysis, LIDAR-based Strategies for Active Safety and Automated Driving from M
  • Positive incentives an alternative to road user charging?
    February 1, 2012
    The Netherlands has been looking at incentivising rush-hour avoidance. The intention is to better understand road users' motivations and find alternatives to congestion charging. Something significant needs to happen if we are to adequately address the traffic congestion and other issues caused by the ever-rising numbers of vehicles on our roads. Congestion or distance-based charging is seen as one way of managing demand and raising revenue for improvements to transport infrastructure. However, charging is