Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, is usually to defend your business with an example very illustrative. Did you know that in the united States, there are 80 million power drills? Did you know that half of these are used throughout his life for 13 minutes? (The New York Times) Imagine that the society discovers that it is more sustainable, and economic, to share a drill with our neighbors. What would fail in the business of boring machines? Now let’s change the drill by a car. What is the sense that brands such as Audi immersed in the business of car-sharing, the car-sharing? What if your customers discover that it is more economical and sensible to share cars with their neighbors, who have a particular vehicle more than 95% of the time standing in the garage?
Of time, or Audi, or other car manufacturers, they are afraid that the client discovers the car-sharing and having a private car is not sustainable, and it is expensive. Instead, they know how to sell more cars thanks to car-sharing.
In the united States just launched a new service called Audi at home. Its dynamics is the following, Audi will have a fleet of shared vehicles in residential areas very specific. And not just any area. So that their neighbors will be able to have the cars present there, prior reservation at the reception and the concierge desk. Audi has already premiered in the united States similar services, such as Audi on demand, which is mid-way between the service car-sharing and a conventional rental, with receipt of the car at home, and order to be used particularly in vacation experiences.
Does Audi have thought about the maxim “if you can not with the enemy, join him”? Or much less.
In Spain, projects like Amovens.com (born in 2009), are little by little taking off, but remain unknown by the general public.
Both Audi, like other manufacturers involved in similar projects, are very aware of that in the economy collaborative there is a huge goldmine which is untapped. They are also very aware of that, as much as by active and by passive we talked about a trend quite clear of the new generations – the Millennials – into the disaffection with the private property of a car, the car continues to be a need, and an expression of freedom, of many young and not so young. The custom of having our own car is not going to disappear overnight.
This means that, at least in the short and medium term, it would be very daring to believe that the car-sharing go to shift to the private property of the automobile. Between the fears of Audi we doubt very much that is the possibility that their customers don’t buy cars, because they can share it with their neighbors.
This leads us to think of another question. What has led to Audi to get involved in this type of actions, and collaborative services timely?
Audi will offer a fleet of vehicles style S7, SQ5, TT, Q7, S5 Cabriolet and RS5 Cabriolet, in a residential area where the apartment small listed in the order of millions of euros.
Audi at home will be available in the project LUMINA San Francisco, a condominium with apartments and flats in the order of several million euros, and even a penthouse style penthouse of 49 million dollars, more than 45 million euros to the current change (Bizjournals). We will also provide service in the Four Seasons Residences Miami, where he sold apartments and floors for up to 20 million euros.
The fleet of cars that will offer Audi will consist of several units Audi S7, S5 Cabriolet, SQ5, TT, Q7 and RS5 Cabriolet. To use, simply with residents to make a booking, pick-up your car at the entrance, and it is delivered back to the valet upon his return. The payment of this sort of rental may be made by hours, or full days, and will include fuel, cleaning, insurance, tolls, without limit of kilometers.
within the meaning of the localization of this kind of car-sharing, the target audience of Audi, and the fleet of vehicles that will have, I imagine that you will already have realised from the other objective pursued by the German brand. Audi has not been introduced in the business of car-sharing to reduce the number of cars on the road, to make a more sustainable use of the car, but – effectively – to sell more cars.
Definitely this is not the interpretation that initially gave birth to the car-sharing, or much less. But does any one doubt that Audi has taken advantage of very well the concept to arrive at a good number of potential customers?
Source: Audi
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