Three Questions on Next Generation Mobility

Regular readers of my LinkedIn posts will know that “change”, be it personal, organizational or industrial, is something that is of great interest to me. It was precisely for this reason that I gladly accepted the invitation to attend the German American Conference at Harvard University. As part of the “Next generation mobility” panel I had the chance to enter into discussions with politicians, experts, scientists and car industry colleagues. And it will come as no surprise that the main topics were mobility visions, new business models and the world of tomorrow.

I strongly believe that taking every opportunity to discuss such subjects with relevant players is the only way to move forward in a consistent and sustainable way. On such occasions, both enthusiasts and sceptics play important roles as future mobility solutions bring huge implications. How do we create the infrastructure needed for electrification? How do we ensure internet access regardless of the location? What effects will the CO2 regulations have? How will our cities change to meet the demands? The list of challenges is almost endless. Furthermore, one needs to be aware of what can be expected from upcoming technology, how it can support such changes in the automotive industry, in society and in customer behavior.

On the business level, forecasts show exciting projections for many relevant areas of discussion. Take digital car content for example. Estimations published in the “Connected Car Study 2015” show that the market volume could triple to over €120 billion by 2021 and even increase to €500 billion by 2025. Another example is connected cars – according to a study conducted by Accenture in eight years, every new car sold will be connected. And finally look at alternative mobility services – our internal predictions show that the number of global users will increase from around 6.6 million to more than 26 million in 2020.

As you can see, there are many hurdles and uncertainties to overcome but the rewards are astonishing. Therefore, we have every reason to go the extra mile when it comes to “next generation mobility”. During the conference, I challenged my discussion partners and the audience with three difficult questions based on surveys conducted by TomTom and the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure:

1.   How good is a world in which a commuter spends 100 hours per year in traffic jams?

2.   How good is a world in which one car has four parking spots?

3.   How good is a world in which more than 3,000 people die in traffic-related accidents every day?

I would now like to challenge you with the same three questions. The facts behind the questions forced me to rethink my position. What is your point of view?