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If you are a petrolhead or just love getting into your car for a relaxing Sunday drive along Chapmans Peak, you might want to give this one a skip.

Recently there have been a number of studies that show that private ownership of vehicles will decline significantly in the next few years, and especially in Europe and the US it is predicted that by 2030, very few people will even own their own cars.

Many studies have predicted that by 2030, hardly anyone in the US and Europe will own their own car.
The reason for this has got nothing to do with flying cars or futuristic ‘beam me to the office, Scotty’ devices. Instead, there has been a sharp increase in self-driving, electric ride-shares in most European countries, and it is predicted that Dubai might even see self-piloting drones become commonplace.

Either way, the reasons to ditch owning a car are beginning to outweigh having to buy and maintain a vehicle yourself. Even in South Africa, with our petrol prices and potholed streets, car sales have been declining.

‘SA’s vehicle sales volumes have been steadily declining for several years, and that’s unlikely to change. Many younger and urban consumers don’t want to own cars; they simply want to get from A to B. Others want to own cars, but they can’t for various reasons.’

In South Africa, there are currently about 12 million privately owned vehicles, of which only 2.7 million are financed, with only a scary 3 million of them insured. This is according to an article in Business Day. Now, this is where it gets interesting.

Approximately 24 million sales leads are generated in South Africa each year, but only 530 000 transfers into actual car sales. What this data suggests is that there are a great number of people that are interested in buying cars, but end up not doing so for various reasons. Chief among these is access to credit, and it’s this gap that ride-sharing and e-hailing services fill.

‘If we look at mobility as a continuum, with pure ownership on the one side and usership on the other, everything in between those two points is mobility as a service — leasing, subscription models, e-hailing, taking a plane, carpooling, public transportation, ride sharing and many more.’

‘A second driver of mobility as a service is the increasing urbanisation of our population. It’s estimated that 55% of the world’s population lives in cities. They don’t need a car. They just need access to transport — and that could include everything from public transport, bicycles and scooters to ride-sharing and carpooling.’

Whether you are in love with your Q8 or drive a Picanto, everyone can agree that owning and operating a car in South Africa is sometimes more of a burden than a joy.
Perhaps it’s time that the gas-guzzling industry evolves into a model that is better suited to the average person.

But honestly, nothing could ever replace a drive along the coast with the top down and some CCR on the radio. In your own car of course.

[source:businessday]