The Michelin Bibendum Challenge was one of the largest gatherings of the year on the topic of shared-use mobility. Carlo Di Giusto was in Chengu and provides this report. Click here for the original text in Italian.
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The car manufacturers want to excel in the services, not only in mobility products. It is one of the macro trends outlined this morning at the Challenge Bibendum in Chengdu, China, during the presentation by Sarwant Singh, a senior partner at Frost & Sullivan on the mega trends and their impact on mobility and the automotive world. Cars that supports the consulting company, plays an increasingly important role and integrated transport system.
Car sharing. The car sharing is a true mass phenomenon, whose worldwide success has exceeded expectations. Only in 2013 the number of users grew by 50% and by the end of this year is expected to touch five million users share – 4.7 to be exact – that will rotate out of a hundred thousand cars. The number of people who will use the car share is expected to grow exponentially in 2020 is estimated worldwide that about 26 million users and nearly 450 thousand cars shared.
Micromobility. According to Frost & Sullivan, a part of the short-range mobility will rely on the so-called individual means of transport “open top”: more or less futuristic vehicles from a four-wheel-type or Segway scooters, electric bicycles and scooters. The challenge faced by the builders has already begun: there is a portfolio of more than a hundred projects, 50% of which is expected to go into production from 2016. Among car makers better placed in this regard, there are BMW and Audi, over the Eastern builders (Japanese, Korean and Chinese).
Autonomous driving. Before ten years, support to Frost & Sullivan, the market will not see cars driving autonomous able to move in open spaces. The issue, however, involves the management of large fleets to develop new patterns of mobility within defined areas, such as airports, where the greatest cost is that of drivers: the use of autonomous guided vehicles will to reduce costs. Over time, moreover, even the self-driving car will differ by type: real cars that can be driven manually as we do now, the public will cover default paths from A to B and vice versa, and shared vehicles “closed top” for individual mobility in urban areas, virtually no taxi driver.
Connectivity and big data. Data sharing will lead to the redefinition of processes and services associated with the use of the car: the combination of the ability to aggregate large amounts of data and geo-location will provide users with personalized offers in the areas of insurance, maintenance, parts, funding and shopping. Of course, the opportunity to network and receive information will also support advanced mobility services, dynamic navigation and searching for parking. The latter will soon become “smart”, thanks to cloud-based services and apps related to research, the availability, booking and payment. To give an idea of the amount of information that will be placed on the network, it is expected that a car connected can exchange data packets significant average of around 30 GB versus 10 MB today.
Women at the wheel. Among the major trends recorded by Frost & Sullivan, finally, there is the global growth of women who obtain a license: the US has already taken place overtaking, Canada has been reached gender equality, while in Italy the rate of growth of women who get behind the wheel is 3.76%, with a market share which stood at almost 44%. The trend, in fact, is growing in all parts of the world, even in countries where traditionally the car is a guy thing. This inevitably will force companies to offer services and products specific and more personalized.
from Chengdu, Carlo Di Giusto