More than 260,000 customers are registered with the five largest car sharing providers (Flinkster, Stadtmobil, Cambio car2go and Drive Now) in Germany alone. In total, there are more than 130 companies and associations in Germany that offer car sharing services. The German CarSharing Association puts the number of stations at around 2,200. "Car sharing is now available in 320 German cities and municipalities," says Association Managing Director Willi Loose to the trade magazine "kfz-betrieb", which will be published on February 2, 2012.
Car manufacturers Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen and Peugeot have also entered the short-term rental market - mostly with cooperation partners. The sums of money invested are considerable. However, the car dealerships have not yet participated in this; the business is bypassing them. However, this could soon change, as car sharing is an interesting additional pillar for car dealerships, which are having to come to terms with the trend of the younger generation's dwindling desire to buy a car, especially in large cities.
"The opportunities for car dealerships are enormous," says Rolf Lübke, DB Rent Managing Director and founder of DB Carsharing. A car dealership is thus able to make its customers mobile at any time of the day or night and without major personnel costs, and it can tap into new customer groups in this way. "As 25% of car sharing customers are on the road for business, this form of mobility offers extremely interesting prospects for dealers," says Manfred Reddig from the Ford Dealer Association.
Ford and the Ford dealer association want to work closely together to allow interested dealerships to participate in this business on the sales side and integrate them into a nationwide car-sharing system - an example that could set a precedent. According to the Ford dealer association, dealers are very interested in car sharing.
"kfz-betrieb" is the most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry and has been informing the automotive trade and service sector for 100 years. "kfz-betrieb" is the official organ of the German Motor Trade Association (ZDK), the professional interest group for around 38,000 car dealerships and workshops. Daily news from the entire automotive industry is available at www.kfz-betrieb.de and in the daily newsletter. The parent company Vogel Business Media is one of Germany's leading providers of specialist information with around 100 trade journals, 60 web portals, over 100 business events and numerous international activities. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. The company celebrated its 120th birthday in 2011.
