Car sharing schemes expected to hit manufacturers

In North America the expected usage of car sharing schemes is to increase eightfold within the next six years according to a new report. It is tongue-in-cheek advising car manufacturers to start getting worried, but this is a valid point. If more people are turning to car sharing instead of owning their own vehicle, it will of course hit manufacturers.

Many of us choose to not own a car out of our own free will, but there are a number of people that simply cannot afford to. If you take owning a car in London, you have to first work out what the insurance will cost, the fuel charges of sitting bumper to bumper everyday, maintenance costs and of course the dreaded Congestion Charge. Car share schemes like Zipcar are the way forward it would seem, especially in urban populated areas like London.

In Toronto the two car sharing schemes currently have more than 20,000 members and that is expected to rise quite heavily in the next few years. The research, compiled by David Zhao, a vehicle research analyst, has suggested that this rise could lead one million less vehicles being bought on the new car market each year.

Many of us are also turning to car sharing or car rentals to help save the environment. Families with second cars have ditched them in favour of sharing because in many cases they were just not needed, only wanted. The savings for the average person are great and although it may not always be convenient to share a car, it will be the way forward.