Opinion

The future of corporate mobility

A few weeks ago, I was in Mexico City to visit my daughter and I had planned some professional meetings and tourist visits during my stay. I decided not to hire a car at the airport as I wouldn't have been able to find my way or park the car. I was recommended not to take a cab as it could be dangerous. There were no trains or metro that could take me to any of my destinations. Transport in Mexico City is a complete nightmare: people can spend up to 5 hours a day commuting in crowded buses or alone in their car or a collective taxi. I had the privilege to choose how and when to move and my favourite solution was Uber as it is safe and cheap. I just had to buy a sim card to manage the application at low cost. 

The experience is more or less the same in Istanbul, Rio or any megapolis in emerging economies. Commuting is much easier in modern economies thanks to better public transportation means (metro or trains) but it is a growing concern. Moving employees from home to the office has become a priority for many corporates and, when possible, home office work is encouraged. So, when we switch from fleet management to the corporate mobility concept we broaden the scope of attention from sales and executives to all employees. Simultaneously, smart-city projects are being implemented all over the world to use technology, mainly aimed at improving mobility and reducing pollution. Both public authorities and the private sector cooperate to make our big cities a better place to live. This includes major infrastructural projects (second floor highway in Mexico, mega-tunnels and new bridges, hyperloop, etc…), banning old cars or diesel at certain days and thousands of start-ups offering e-hailing or car-sharing alternatives all over the world.

New technologies are accelerating the path of change and business models. Uber or Tesla are worth billions with a negative P&L. Marcus Villig is just 24 and founded Taxify 5 years ago in Estonia, making him the new raising star. In this chaotic new emerging world, there are still a lot of opportunities for the good old fleet management companies but they have to innovate and adapt their products.

The development of private lease is part of that general transformation and lessors will quickly move into that business close to theirs. They will also cooperate with start-ups to provide services to platform drivers and create pools for corporate customers. The characteristics of retail and corporate markets will fade away with the new economy and the revolution in the working relations. We will likely see concentrations. Giants will manage millions of cars, sharing drivers before they become autonomous. Niche markets will also flourish to offer sophisticated services (luxury cars sharing programmes, last-mile connections, goods deliveries, etc..). Mobility solutions will reduce and eliminate traffic jams, free-up the streets from useless cars and eliminate as much as possible wasted transportation time ensuring you can work or have fun when safely commuting.

Author: Pascal Serres