July - 2018

Disrupted by Mobility Startups, Automakers Reshape Their Roles

The intersection of the technology and transportation industries is drastically altering the mobility landscape. This union has created entirely new value streams and business models, attracting the attention of consumers and automotive companies (OEMs) alike. Numerous new passenger transportation options, collectively called innovative mobility services (IMS), have emerged in the past twenty years and some have seen significant growth. IMS include carsharing, ridehailing, bi

EV Mopeds-Sharing Launches in NYC

Say hello to Revel, electric moped-sharing . . . While new modes of urban transportation—motorized scooters, dockless bike share, and e-bikes—have been rolling out at a rapid clip in U.S. cities, New York City has thus far been slower to adapt. It was only a few weeks ago, after all, that the city’s dockless pilot launchedin Queens, and laws on the books prevent electric scooters or throttle e-bikes (as opposed to pedal-assist ones) from being used on city streets. Electric m

Numbers are in: Uber, Lyft vs. Rental Cars & Taxis in the US in Q2

The ugly market-share battle in reimbursed ground transportation. Rideshare companies are shaking up the rental-car industry and the taxi industry in the US. In at least one segment that we can track – company-reimbursed ground transportation – the rental-car and taxi industries, both, are getting crushed. Facing these rideshare startups are, after decades of consolidation, three rental-car companies that now control 95% of the $28.6-billion-a year US rental car market, each

Nissan Partners With Kohnan Shojito To Expand Japan CarSharing Service

Nissan’s e-share mobi car-sharing service will expand to 100 new locations in Japan through a partnership with retailer Kohnan Shoji Co., Ltd. The service lets customers use the new Nissan LEAF electric car or the Nissan Note e-POWER for periods of as little as 15 minutes. It will be available at about a third of Kohnan’s home center stores in the country by the end of March 2019, the companies announced today. The expansion will give more customers the chance to experience t

Ford's self-driving division is now its own company

If Alphabet has Waymo and General Motors has GM Cruise, Ford has Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC. The automaker has created a separate company for its self-driving business, clearly taking a cue from the two aforementioned players in the industry. In its announcement, Ford saidthe spinoff was created to accelerate the growth of its autonomous vehicle business and to capitalize on market opportunities. It will oversee all its AV research and the self-driving car networkthe automa

GM launches a Peer-to-Peer car-sharing service

General Motors is launching a new service in Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich. that will let owners rent out their personal GM -branded vehicles through its Maven car-sharing platform. The peer-to-peer car rental service, similar to how Turo and Getaround work, is a departure from Maven’s existing business model. This isn’t the first time Maven has been tweaked and broadened since it first launched in January 2016. The mobility division initially launched as a car-sharing

Bike and Scooter-Share Company "LIME" had 6 Million Rides 1st Year

The bike and scooter-share company, Lime, saw 6 million rides in its first year, the Verge reported. Lime launched last June in Greensboro, N.C., and in the last year has expanded to over 70 cities. Lime announcedearlier this month that it would receive $335 million in investments from Uber and Alphabet, Inc. As part of the partnership with Uber, the company is working to make the electric scooters available for use through the ride-sharing app. According to the National Asso

Zipcar unveils Flex EV car sharing vision for London

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched a taskforce aimed at boosting electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure in the city, just days after car sharing firm Zipcar introduced more than 300 Volkswagen e-Golfs to its platform to create the UK's largest pool of publicly available shared EVs. The new Zipcar fleet will be based in London, with the first 100 EVs being made available to members by summer and the fleet scaled up to 325 by the end of 2018. Zipcar said in a statement that it

BMW Pilot an Uber Competitor in Seattle

In this wacky new world of bike shares, electric scooters, OneWheels, and transit apps, automotive companies aren’t quite famousfor their inspired, innovative business moves. But today, BMWis sending up the industry’s latest trial balloon. And it’s headed straight for airspace currently occupied by Uberand Lyft. Starting today, the automaker’s ReachNow arm, which offers a car-sharing service in a handful of cities across the US, also has a ride-hailing service. If you happen

Volvo launches M car-sharing mobility brand

New initiative begins spring 2019 in Sweden and the U.S. Although the company's official name is Volvo Car Group, we can envision a day when the word "Car" gets replaced by the word "Mobility." Should that day come, it got a few years closer with Volvo's launch of a new brand called M, that letter representing the buzzword in question and the new car-sharing service to launch next spring in Sweden and the U.S. Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson said, "We are evolving to become a dire