The overall carsharing vehicle parc is expected to expand from 983,000 in 2017 to 1,237,000 in 2018, driven by motorists’ desire to use alternative modes of transport, the rise in employee mobility options and environmental concerns, said a recent report.

Existing providers of recent mobility solutions like carsharing, ridesharing, ridehailing, on-demand responsive shuttles, and integrated mobility are already scaling their operations through consolidations and partnerships, said the report.

Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, ‘Global Mobility Industry Outlook, 2018’, examines seven business models—traditional carsharing; peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing; corporate carsharing; ridehailing; ridesharing; dynamic shuttle/demand responsive transit (DRT); and integrated mobility.

This trend is illustrated by the latest example of BMW and Daimler merging their carsharing units to become the global market leader, commanding over 30 per cent of the overall carsharing market.

Smaller players are trying to retain their market share by either forging partnerships with bigger players or by expanding their business models.

New synergies in the market are fostering converged mobility solutions, creating a new space for mobility integrators and Mobility-as-a-Service providers, added the report.

Geraldine Priya, mobility team lead at Frost & Sullivan, said: “The highly dynamic market for new mobility solutions is expected to follow an emergent growth paradigm that leverages novel business models, sectoral partnerships, and consolidations.”

“As business models diversify, we will see substantial investments in electric vehicle (EV) and autonomous vehicle (AV) pilots. Indeed, the ranks of operators offering self-driving cars for ridehailing services are swelling, with Waymo following Uber and Lyft into this market,” he added.

Emerging growth opportunities within key segments of the mobility market include:

Carsharing: Increased adoption of EVs, improved regulatory support, and integration of carsharing operations with other mobility modes are all driving growth within this segment.

Ridesharing: Increased competition for market share, strategic partnerships, and investments will drive market growth. The corporate ridesharing market, specifically, will begin to pick up as companies are looking to move to more sustainable ways of transport.

Ridehailing: Greater support from governments, bundled services, and growing online population will allow for greater penetration of ridehailing services into the traditional taxi market.

DRT: Big data analytics and algorithms for real-time and flexible operations will disrupt the current market, while transit authorities and agencies will be key to restructuring the traditional bus transit model.

Integrated Mobility: Greater synergies between private operators and OEMs will support expansion of operations. In addition, cities and local transport operators are opening up to the idea of offering MaaS to ease the congestion and pollution issue in cities.

In addition to the competition from the market giants, smaller operators also have to contend with tight regulatory frameworks that often affect growth of the current mobility business solutions.

Priya noted: “While challenges exist in the form of regulatory outlook, competition, and the advent of advanced technologies, the escalating demand for mobility solutions and new business and revenue streams offer ample opportunities to mobility operators.”

The analysis report is part of Frost & Sullivan’s global Automotive & Transportation Growth Partnership Service programme, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service