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| The author on a Mini-branded bicycle which forms part of future plans by Merc and BMW to provide transport as a service. |
MERCEDES-Benz announced last week that it will team up with BMW to provide all-electric cars for ride hailing services and develop self-driving car technology.
Under the “X-Now” brand, BMW already operates “Drive Now” car sharing in European, “ReachNow” for ride hailing in the U.S. and “ChargeNow” for charging.
Merc and BMW have jointly invested over $1.1 billion into their collaboration that will involve several companies around the world, such as Car2Go in the U.S., Kapten in France, and Beat in Mexico, with the focus on linking people with transport that first their needs, be it to find wheels, from a chauffeur-driven car, to a bike or even bus; to finding a charging point or parking.
Mercedes cites studies showing that 30% of traffic in cities are drivers cruising around looking for a space to park their wheels.
“Ultimately, we want to offer our customers as many options as possible for getting from A to B. In short, this is about driving, riding or being driven,” said Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, in a statement announcing the joint venture.
While it may seem that Merc and BMW are ditching their carefully nurtured brand images, both companies have been projecting current car owning trends and in major cities and they see fewer people opting to own a car that is parked for 23 out of 24 hours.
Stephan Rammler, an auto industry consultant and professor of transportation design at Braunschweig University of Art said the three core features of mobility in the 20th century are dissolving — owning a car, driving it, and fuelling a combustion engine.
In the U.S. and Europe, fewer young people are getting a driver’s licence and those who do, want their wheels to generate income or at least split the costs, as shown in a survey published by Volvo and the Harris polling organisation last week.
The survey stated almost one in three (32%) of the respondents said a car-sharing programme sponsored by a manufacturer would increase the likelihood that they would buy a car.
Volvo sells a one-year subscription program for its XC40 small SUV that has proven more popular than dealers can accommodate, and has indicated it plans a similar programme for its first electric car, the Polestar 2.
Southern Africa have time to plan
These new attitudes to car ownership have not reached southern Africa, where getting a driver’ licence are still as important to young people as getting a smart phone.
This means jobs at local dealers as well as at the plants of Toyota in Prospecton, Merc in East London, Ford in Silverton, BMW in Rosslyn plus Isuzu and BAIC in Port Elizabeth are safe in the medium term.
This does not mean, however, that South Africa’s vehicle industries do not have to brace for change, as industrial cities in Germany, the seat of car manufacture in Europe, are now doing.
The IG Metall union reports Germany may already have reached “peak car” and that employment in automotive trades will start to decline this year.
More than a third of Germany’s 210 000 jobs in engine and transmission production will disappear by 2030, IG Metall says.
“Carmakers can only survive as mobility-service providers, not as auto manufacturers,” says Horst Lischka, IG Metall’s Munich head and a member of BMW AG’s supervisory board.
