Accustomed to the flexibility and comfort of new technologies, the young public no longer shows great interest in buying a car, something that was considered almost a step forced by their parents and grandparents in their youth.
On the contrary, they prefer to hire one when they wish and for as long as they need it, paying only for the time of use. Also, without having to go to an office to do it but directly from an app.
This change in consumer habits reaches the automotive industry at a very bad time, as they are experiencing one of the worst crises of recent years: sales fall at a rate of 40% per month and the projections for 2019 are worrisome, since which account for a decrease of 20% over the previous year.
In Argentina, this deceleration of activity started in mid-2018 after the devaluation, which increased the value of the 0km and caused serious damage to the sector. Not even bonuses allow you to get out of the crossroads.
To this it is added that many people "spin fine" in the expenses that involves a car stored in the garage, which can exceed 15,000 pesos per month, according to a survey of iProfesional.
Faced with this scenario, the automotive companies analyze more than ever where their business should focus. The change is not local, but follows a trend that began in developed countries and landed in Argentina.
For large manufacturers, the objective is not only production and sales, but they are turning towards a new and ambitious goal: to become service companies.
Companies know that they have to explore other edges of mobility and look for solutions to the daily problem of large cities, where every time the delay to move from one place to another is greater.
This need is also fueled by other factors that occur in the first world:
- First, the change of habits: more and more people do not find it sense to have a vehicle (there are new possibilities of displacement) that forces them to face important expenses that could be allocated to other issues, such as travel or leisure
- Second, the heaviest traffic, with congested roads and streets and parking spaces increasingly difficult to get
In addition, several countries are strengthening their policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and suggest replacing traditional models with electric vehicles.
This cocktail resulted in new services that for a while have begun to develop many companies, usually associated with firms specialized in technology.
Although in the world there are cases that come from a long time, in Argentina several carmakers have begun to bet hard for what is coming. The last to present a proposal to capture this "new" demand is Nissan, which launched its carsharing service.
Thus, a year after becoming a national terminal, with the manufacture of the Frontier pickup in Córdoba -and after announcing the commercialization of the first electric passenger vehicle in the country, the Leaf-, presented this proposal of shared mobility in partnership with Awto .
This company operates in Argentina through a commercial agreement with Awto Chile, established in the neighboring country by the Kaufmann Group, which will provide the software (the app for the cell phone) and the permission on the name of the brand. For its launch in Argentina, it invested 50 million pesos.
How does it work
The carsharing service is a modality of shared vehicles that allows you to obtain a car only for the necessary time. It is looked for in a near point and it is returned in another place, without limitations of time.
- To use it, you have to download the application through the app Store or Google Play stores, register and find the car closest to the user's location
- The vehicles are ready to be used in more than 60 key points of the City of Buenos Aires and its surroundings: universities, shopping centers, supermarkets, airports and parking lots
- Once the car is located, it is "unlocked" through the app: the user can open the doors and find the keys inside
- At the end of the trip, look for the nearest station (via geolocation) to leave the vehicle
- Upon arrival, you must close the car and the payment will be debited directly on the card associated with the app
- It is not necessary to complete procedures or complete forms, so the speed of access is very fast
The fleet of cars is made up of the following models:
- Nissan March, the compact of the Japanese firm, which is offered at a value of $ 7.30 per minute
- Nissan Kicks, a "premium" proposal that can be rented at $ 9.50 per minute
In this way, those interested can use a vehicle as long as they wish, without being tied to fixed charges of insurance, patents, maintenance and garage.
Other information: during the period in which the car remains parked, the rate is reduced by 50%. In addition, when renting for minutes or hours, it includes fuel for 50 kilometers; while when hiring it by day, the load rises to 180 kilometers.
"Our expectation is to reach 500 cars in Buenos Aires in the next four years, a change that we believe will have a positive effect on traffic and connectivity in the city, as well as the construction of a more sustainable society," says Mariano Segarra, manager General of Awto Argentina.
In another order, the executive remarks that "these proposals are intended to achieve improvements in traffic, because for each car shared on the street, there are 14 fewer vehicles."
"Generally, a private vehicle is only used 4% of the time (1 hour per day, on average), so the carsharing makes this use much more efficient," he explains.
Nissan is moving forward in the way of new forms of mobility through its brand vision Intelligent Mobility, which seeks to change the way cars are driven, driven and integrated into society.
More and more offer
The arrival of Nissan to the world of carsharing joins other mobility proposals that launched Toyota and Mercedes Benz in the country.
In the first case, it is a system that allows choosing any vehicle from the brand's fleet and picking it up at a dealership to use it for as long as it is needed. As of an agreement with YPF, they may also be withdrawn at some service stations.
"We want to stop being a car manufacturer to become a service provider and provide mobility solutions," says Daniel Herrero, number one of the Japanese firm.
In the case of Mercedes Benz, offers this proposal through teneslugar.com site, so that employees of a dozen associated companies can have cars for their work trips.
Worldwide, there are many automotive companies that are investing in these challenges. To do this, they join technological experts or other companies in the same field.
For example, in Germany, there were a total of 2.5 million registered users in shared mobility companies last year, which represented an increase of 350,000 compared to 2017.
Many experts believe that this service is a bridge to the future. In this sense, from the consultancy MCKinsey indicate that it is an instance that helps manufacturers and other participants to prepare for the new era of mobility that is to come.
It refers to a stage that will be defined by autonomous vehicles and by a different vision about the possession of a car.
"In a modern and interconnected city, in an autonomous era, in the years of 2028, 2030 or 2032 we will no longer use carsharing, but we will share robotic taxis, basically all these models will be fused in a new form of offer," they affirm. from the consultant.
However, there is an interesting future for carsharing. In fact Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen invested in this trend for two reasons:
- Its high commercial value in large cities
- It's a good training to learn how to sell mobility in smaller ways
Last year, Daimler paid $ 79 million to buy the remaining 25% of Car2Go and raise its stake to 100%. At the same time, BMW acquired DriveNow.
In March 2018, both automakers merged their carsharing contributions. The resulting company, called ShareNow, has four million customers worldwide and more than 20,000 vehicles in 13 countries. It is the largest shared car provider in the world.
Volkswagen also entered this market. This year he will launch his own carsharing service in Berlin, called "WeShare". In addition, it is working to cover the rest of Germany, Europe and North America this year.
Christian Müller, head of communication at Car2Go, says the future of car sharing will be dominated by electromobility.
He believes that the management of vehicles in large cities and the knowledge of the expectations of customers, who do not have their own car, are preparing large companies for the autonomous period.
In this way, a concern of the youngest is generating a new market of solutions and shaping the future of mobility. And it puts the focus on the passenger, rather than on the driver. All a transformation.
