Focus turns To Ownership during the Pandemic
Strategy Analytics – The aftermath of COVID-19 will present opportunities for some automotive stakeholders and difficult-to-impossible challenges for others. While travel is curtailed in many regions of the US and UK and certain journeys like commutes and long road trips will not return for some time, consumers are reconsidering some types of shared transport in favor of a personally owned or leased vehicle.
A new report from the Strategy Analytics’ In-Vehicle UX (IVX) service, “Cars in the Time of COVID-19: Consumers Weigh In”, has found that usage of all mobility services will likely fall in COVID-19 recovery while owned car usage is likely to remain unchanged or increase.
Surveying consumers in the US and UK in May 2020 to investigate attitudes around mobility in the era of COVID-19, air/surface cleaning and plastic partitions are of modest importance to most riders using ride-hailing services; driverless technology does not add great value to ride-hailing UX, even during a pandemic. Meanwhile, for owned cars, smart or clean surfaces are of greater value to consumers than removable or customizable cockpit barriers.
Commented Derek Viita, report author and Senior Analyst IVX, “After years of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) stakeholders heralding the ‘death’ of the owned car, prior and present research from Strategy Analytics indicates further promise for future car ownership. However, this does not necessarily mean new car sales will immediately rebound. Instead, consumers could end up holding on to their current cars, or buying a used car. Increased cost-consciousness, the imminent crash of the used car market if car rental companies go under and the onset of fewer vehicle-miles-travelled (VMT) due to increases in remote working, are all competing factors in this decision.”
Added Kevin Nolan, VP, UX Innovation Practice, “The impact of VMT is perhaps the biggest challenge though. Those with greater mobility needs tend to utilize mobility services the most, so if their needs are lessened because of remote work or less travel, this does not bode well for mobility services.”
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