Dec. 14, 2017—New car-based “mobility services” will become a trillion dollar industry by 2040—up from essentially zero a decade ago—with China at the forefront of this transformation, according to IHS Markit.
The growth in mobility services is one of the major driving forces of change in the automotive ecosystem that is already transforming how consumers buy, use and power cars, according to insights from a new research service, Reinventing the Wheel: Mobility and Energy Future.
New mobility services offer the temporary use of a car to consumers—for a ride across the city or beyond—that they do not own.
The most common way this is done today is via app-based ride-hailing or car-sharing services, such as those offered by Didi Chuxing in China and Uber and Lyft elsewhere.
Over time, a growing array of mobility services will emerge from personal subscriptions for driverless car usage to the integration of car services into city transit systems.
“The growth of mobility services will lead to more miles traveled by cars and increased access to mobility via the car around the world. People will have greater access and other options than ever before,” said Dr. Daniel Yergin, IHS Markit vice chairman, Pulitzer Prize-winner and project lead of the new IHS Markit research service. The service delivers short- and long-term insights and projections of how changes in the automotive ecosystem impact the oil industry, automotive manufacturers and their suppliers, and the chemical industry.
“China is at the forefront of the automotive transformation due to its large and growing car market,” Dr. Yergin said. “In 2018, IHS Markit expects car sales in China to reach 28 million compared to 17.1 million in the United States, the second-largest national car market in the world.”
China is also the world’s largest market for electric cars (passenger cars and light trucks).
From January to September 2017, China sold more than 234,000 electric cars, a 24 percent year-on-year increase, according to the latest figures from the new IHS Markit service.
By comparison, over the same period, the United States sold just over 140,000 electric cars—a 26 percent increase compared to the previous year.
