The future of mobility is an exciting yet sometimes unimaginable concept.
There’s a temptation to jump to driverless vehicles and new forms of transport without considering the evolution that is currently already happening across the mobility industry.
We believe that reports of “the death of the car” are greatly exaggerated, but we also know that attitudes to car ownership are changing, and that over the next decade we are likely to see a significant shift in how people want to use and experience vehicles.
Understanding customer expectations is critical to our business. This is why we commissioned a trends report entitled The Road Ahead: The Future of Mobility. Research was conducted across 16 markets in Europe and Asia, examining the way that the mobility landscape is changing, how it is likely to look in the future, and how different markets view these changes.
One of our most significant findings is that while three quarters of those surveyed own a car, over half said that they would consider giving that up if doing so was convenient and easy.
Driven by technology advancements and the influence of streaming services like Netflix and Spotify, people want to consume and access products or services at the click of a button. The mobility industry is part of this cultural shift, whether booking a taxi instantly or hiring a car for a week-long holiday, all from your smartphone.
In the UK, consumers are considering alternative transport services to car ownership, with respondents selecting car leasing (17 per cent), on-demand car sharing services (16 per cent), and subscription rental services (12 per cent) as mobility solutions that will become more popular over the next 10 years.
However, the research has also shown that consumers still want convenience at a reasonable price. To ensure that this is provided, different mobility players are already working together, ranging from technology giants delivering 5G to local government working with the private sector to improve electric vehicle access.
The Road Ahead report also shows that we are witnessing a rapidly evolving mobility landscape on a truly international scale. From Paris to Singapore, we can see a mobility revolution taking place.
Many European and international cities are now host to car-free zones and autonomous vehicle trials, and some are even exploring micro-mobility solutions to ensure that everyone has the right transport mode for their journey.
In the UK, just under a third of travellers are using two or more modes of transport for their “typical everyday journeys”, which opens the door for services to be connected up and provide a more seamless experience. Interestingly, when it comes to travel for leisure purposes, the report found that Brits would like to change their vehicle for summer holidays (40 per cent) or weekends away (26 per cent), demonstrating the need for flexibility.
All of these shifts in consumer behaviour offer genuine opportunities to enhance and improve the experience of vehicle usage. By focusing on the tangible and immediate changes which we will see happening over the next 10 years, we can offer solutions that will make travel easier, customer-led, and ultimately more enjoyable.
Main image credit: Getty
