Car sharing threatens auto sales in North America

David Zhao, a car market analyst from Frost & Sullivan, cautioned vehicle manufacturers in North America that car share service is likely to go up more than eightfold by 2016. Zhao said that the development is disturbing, as it could lower new vehicle sales by at least a million.

According to the analyst’s published report, he predicts that by 2016, residents using car share in the US and Canada will rise to 4.4 million. He further added that one shared car could substitute 15 personally owned vehicles.

Such projection is not new for AutoShare’s president and founder Kevin McLaughlin. The car share firm, which operates in Canada, has at least 10,000 members. McLaughlin told that as cities develop their public transport system, as people now rely heavily on iPhones and hi-tech communications devices to connect to others and as the costs of vehicles go up, buying a car is increasingly becoming less prioritized.

Car share service is believed to cut carbon gas emissions as well. Frost & Sullivan figures reveal that car share drivers produce 31 per cent lesser emission than they would normally have if they had used their own car. Zhao further informed that locals who just rent car tend to drive lesser because they need to pay in a per hour basis.

Regarding other car share firms, Massachusetts-based Zipcar offers about 6,500 vehicles for renters and has 350,000 members across North America. Meanwhile, Hertz, a popular car hire company, is now offering hourly service to cities and universities across the continent.