Annual Report 2021

Transforming mobility together
Mobility has set some ambitious goals: we are aiming to be climate neutral by 2040 and operating a purely electric fleet by 2030. With this in mind, we have taken some crucial steps over the past fiscal year and forged some valuable partnerships. In spite of the ongoing pandemic, 2021 was a positive year for the cooperative.

Our society is in a state of upheaval and many changes have been intensified or accelerated by COVID-19. This is true for mobility, too, which is inevitably becoming more sustainable. At the same time, digitalisation is proving an increasingly important issue for customers, who want the most intuitive and seamlessly interlinked services possible. Mobility is therefore also working on upgrading its app. On top of this, we are seeing a trend towards more individualised transport, which calls for tailored services. Mobility is absolutely determined to play an active part in steering these developments at all levels – after all, being a pioneer is something that is deeply rooted in our values.

Our first step is to electrify our entire fleet. Around 200 e-vehicles were already in use by the end of the year under review, with as many again due to be introduced by 2023. However, as before, this scheme is still very much in the development stage, as the charging infrastructure in particular is posing both technical and organisational challenges. But we are not rushing into anything and are currently doing our homework to enable us to address any issues pushing ahead with this project and offer all of our customers a consistent charging experience.

To expand our charging network, we have joined forces with three partners within the past year. There is a logic behind this. We firmly believe that strategic partnerships will help us move forwards in all areas. Let’s consider the town of Wil, for example, where all local residents have been given a Mobility annual subscription as part of a joint scheme. Wil is also the first town in Switzerland where we are operating exclusively with electric vehicles. And while we’re on the subject of partnerships, let’s not forget the one we have in place with the Raiffeisen cooperative bank, which now has the option of opening Mobility stations at its branches.

We are keen to innovate and rethink the concept of mobility in our country, but the conditions need to be just right for this. That is why we became one of the founding members of CHACOMO (the Swiss Alliance for Collaborative Mobility), an industry association set up at the end of 2021 that brings together providers of shared mobility services. This gives us the opportunity to raise our concerns on a united front across a wide platform. Meanwhile, Mobility has also stepped up its ongoing dialogue with Switzerland’s major cities.

We also want to draw on our own resources and reach out more to members of the cooperative. Maintaining a dynamic dialogue on
an equal footing is important to us. To this end, we want to increase our use of the digital
platforms that we first started to engage with in 2021. We have a strong community of 75’000 multipliers, and mobilising them adds impetus to our further development.

Mobility is celebrating its 25^th anniversary in 2022. We have now been a successful provider of car sharing services for a quarter of a century and increasing numbers of people in Switzerland are enjoying the benefits of shared mobility. In the year under review, for example, our customer base expanded by a further 9 % – or 22’200 people. This encouraging growth in the private customer segment was one of the reasons why we enjoyed an increase in both turnover and profit too. We are therefore investing further in building a sustainable and digital future for mobility.

Thank you for your trust in us, for your loyalty and for your dedication to our cause. We hope you share many wonderful moments together.

Moving towards climate neutrality
The target has been set: Mobility aims to become climate neutral by 2040 – in terms of both how our vehicles are powered and all the emissions we generate. By doing so, the company will be making an important contribution towards protecting the environment and promoting a sustainable way of life. Did you know that one Mobility car already replaces eleven privately owned ones?

The transition to electric is picking up speed
One of the key steps we are taking to pave the way to becoming climate neutral is converting our entire fleet to e-vehicles, which we are aiming to achieve by 2030 at the latest. We are currently laying the foundations for this transition – including planning a nationwide charging infrastructure, which we are implementing with the help of our partners. Mobility is on track and already had 200 electric cars in use at the end of 2021. The same number again are due to be introduced by 2023.

Using strategic partnerships to create a charging station network
Developing a charging network involves overcoming certain technical, organisational and financial challenges. Another issue is that Mobility does not own its parking spaces – it only rents them. Strategic partnerships are therefore crucial to ensuring success. In the year under review, for example, the car sharing provider forged links with Juice Technology, EVTEC and Helion. Together, they are aiming to set up 200 charging stations by 2023. All the owners of the parking spaces have to do is provide access to an electricity supply. Meanwhile, SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) is pulling out all the stops to convert its station parking facilities. Mobility is also holding talks with cities such as Basel, Bern, Zurich and Geneva with a view to guaranteeing customers a consistent charging experience throughout Switzerland.

One fruitful partnership gets under way …
Mobility has set up a close cooperation with the Raiffeisen Group. Over 820 Raiffeisen bank branches now have the option of setting up electric vehicles at their premises for shared transport. They provide the power supply, while Mobility provides the charging station and the vehicle itself. Raiffeisen customers can benefit from discounts on car sharing services too.

… while another one comes to an end
After just under three years, Mobility and Auto Gewerbe Verband Schweiz (AGVS) decided to end their association by mutual agreement with effect from the end of 2021. The idea behind this partnership was to fit vehicles of AGVS partner dealerships with car sharing technology and thus strengthen Mobility’s network. However, in reality it turned out that this could rarely be done efficiently or cost-effectively.

Electric cars proving increasingly popular
Mobility users have no reservations when it comes to electric vehicles. Results of schemes such as the pilot project at Zurich railway station, where ten electric cars have been available for some time now, attest to that. These e-cars are now booked just as often as their fossil fuel-powered counterparts – an encouraging sign indeed! Moreover, surveys show that half of drivers choose to go to this particular location specifically because there are electric cars there – even if it means travelling further. And, incidentally, the range of these vehicles is now more than sufficient for the car sharing community.

Wil: leading the way in the mobility transformation
Wil is the first town in Switzerland where Mobility is operating exclusively with electric cars. Eight e-vehicles are available to customers there. In September 2021, the town also provided all of its residents with a free Mobility annual subscription as part of a sustainability programme. The aim of this is to persuade as many local people as possible to use shared mobility and do something good for the environment in the process.

Important CO2 target reached
On average, Mobility cars generated 93.5 g/km in CO₂ emissions as at the end of 2021, which is significantly lower than the average emissions level of new cars in Switzerland (124 g/km). In addition to the growing number of electric vehicles, the systematic conversion of vehicles to hybrid cars in the economy and combi (estate) categories has contributed to this. Mobility’s goal was to reduce the CO₂ emissions generated by its own vehicles to less than 95 g/km by 2023. It has now successfully reached this milestone a year earlier than planned.

67’900 people using CO2 offsetting scheme
For the past two years, Mobility customers have had the opportunity to invest 3 centimes per kilometre travelled into myclimate’s “Cause We Care” programme. In the year under review, 67’900 people chose this option when making reservations, thus offsetting 3’473 tonnes of CO₂. Well done! Each contribution is matched by Mobility and put towards a climate fund, which is used both to finance climate-related projects in Switzerland and abroad and to expand Mobility’s own zero-
emission electric fleet.

Turnover and profit up in spite of challenges
Despite the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Mobility Cooperative’s red vehicles were well utilised in 2021, which is also reflected in its financial figures. With turnover rising to CHF 80.7 million (+6.8 %), the company reported a profit of CHF 2.8 million (+6.4 %).

Significant increase in customers and customer database cleaned up
Mobility’s customer base expanded by 9 %, thus matching the previous year’s growth rate. The 22’100 new customers pushed the total number of users up to 267’100. At the same time, Mobility also cleaned up its customer database, removing around 25’000 data records which were duplicates of inactive customer data. The bottom line is that Mobility’s total number of customers now comes to 242’300.

22’000 learner drivers using car sharing
Half of households based in major cities in Switzerland do not own their own car, which is why more and more learner drivers are opting to use Mobility vehicles instead. Since the service was launched seven years ago, more than 22’000 people in Switzerland have prepared for their driving test in red car sharing vehicles – and this trend looks set to continue even more strongly. The learner driver subscription is valid for six months. Third-party, comprehensive and passenger insurance are excluded, along with any liability reduction.

A powerful voice for shared mobility
Mobility wants to play an active role in steering the future of shared mobility in Switzerland. To this end, the cooperative founded the association CHACOMO (Swiss Alliance for Collaborative Mobility) in 2021 in collaboration with 12 other providers of shared mobility services. The industry association has been representing common interests in the political discourse since the outset. Its aim is to establish the sharing of vehicles, journeys and infrastructure beyond the familiar lobbies, as a cornerstone of sustainable mobility as a whole.

Mobility wants to join the debate on autonomous vehicles
A diverse array of associations, companies and higher education institutions founded the Swiss Association for Autonomous Mobility (SAAM) in 2021. Mobility is also part of this network, which aims to play a role in shaping the autonomous transport of passengers and goods, as experts believe that the legal requirements for autonomous driving may have already been met in Switzerland by 2025. SAAM is aspiring to help our country take a pioneering role in autonomous mobility.

The Pikmi pilot project confirms customer demand
From November 2020 to April 2022, Zurich Public Transport (VBZ) and other partners ran the “Pikmi” pilot project – an on-demand solution to supplement the public transport services in the Altstetten, Albisrieden and Wiedikon neighbourhoods of Zurich. Mobility provided seven minivans which functioned as normal car-sharing vehicles during the day. But from 8 pm until 1 am, VBZ drivers drove the cars. They operated an on-demand service booked by smartphone. Journey requests with similar destinations were automatically bundled by the system (“pooling”). The customer feedback confirms that public transport supplemented with on-demand solutions is becoming increasingly appealing. The economic viability of this remains a challenge. However, the project partners agree that the idea behind Pikmi should live on. What form it will take is yet to be decided. Now the project has finished, the seven Pikmi minivans are being restored to their original condition and integrated into the Mobility fleet.

Community satisfaction is high
Customer feedback is one of the most important indicators in measuring success. This is why 15’000 questionnaires were sent out last year, with a response rate of 17 %. Overall, Mobility scored 4.3 out of a maximum score of 5. The 24h Service Center scored particularly highly (4.7 for friendliness and 4.5 for expertise). The same is true for the journey evaluation (4.5 for ease of finding the stations and 4.4 for service). Unchanged from last year, nine out of ten users would recommend Mobility to others.

Mobility is supporting Nez Rouge
Every year in December, the Nez Rouge initiative takes motorists home who are no longer able to drive. Mobility’s latest accomplishment in the canton of Zurich is committing itself as an exclusive vehicle partner for the initiative for the first time. Almost 800 car sharing vehicles have been made available for use by Nez Rouge drivers. All non-members received a free trial subscription for this. Our verdict is that this is a sensible, tried and tested initiative for making traffic safer.

Mobility’s last Smart car is raising money for a good cause
Mobility customers have been driving around in Smart cars for 20 years. During this time, the compact cars have circumnavigated the Earth over 1’000 times. But this chapter is now coming to an end as Mobility’s last Smart car has now gone under the hammer. In the run-up to this, the community decided to give proceeds from the sale to the environmental foundation myclimate. The auction resulted in a donation of CHF 6’500 to a programme that promotes climate protection projects for young people.

Modern ways of working during the pandemic
Many Mobility employees do their jobs independently of time and location – and have been for years. Implementing mandatory remote working in 2021 was therefore no problem for the company. A high degree of independence among employees is deeply rooted in the company’s culture. They also strongly identify with the car sharing provider, which is encouragingly evident in the very high level of commitment reported in the employee surveys.

A fair employer
Generous social benefits are also a cornerstone of life at Mobility. For example, the company supports its employees with financial contributions towards public transport tickets and mobile phone contracts. In addition to this, four weeks’ paternity leave and 16 weeks’ maternity leave are provided for employees on full pay. A wage parity analysis performed this fiscal year also demonstrated that, for the same position and level of experience, there is practically no wage disparity between the genders at Mobility.

Financial Report (abridged version)
The COVID-19 pandemic also had an impact on the course of business at many companies for the second year in a row. At Mobility, this was most evident among clients from the business sector, in which the volume of journeys stagnated at the same level as the previous year, after having nosedived in 2020. In this regard, Mobility is hoping to recover the situation after the majority of restrictions are lifted in early 2022. Fortunately, the car sharing company has more than been able to compensate for the negative effects of the pandemic during the fiscal year due to growth in the private customer sector. These customers were once again travelling more frequently and using the red cars for longer durations on average. The bottom line for 2021 amounted to total turnover of CHF 80.7 million (up 6.8 %) and a profit of CHF 2.8 million (up 6.4 %). This can be evaluated as a good, robust result.

Mobility has been successful at attracting customers. An increase of 22’100 people brought the total number of Mobility users up to 267’100. At the same time, Mobility also cleaned up its customer database, removing around 25’000 data records which were duplicates of inactive customer data. In conclusion, Mobility’s total number of customers now comes to 242’300.

Soon, one in ten Mobility cars will be electric
The digitalisation of the car sharing company goes hand in hand with electrifying the entire vehicle fleet by 2030. In a fleet of around 3’000 cars, 200 are already fully electric and many more will be added this year. At the same time, preparations are under way for expanding the charging infrastructure in high-altitude Alpine destinations in collaboration with partners such as the SBB, Raiffeisen Group and Swiss city authorities. This is the first step towards climate neutrality, which the company is planning to achieve by 2040.

Cooperative Governance
The pandemic provided a boost to digitalisation, including in the Mobility cooperative. For the first time, events during the fiscal year – from the section meeting to the delegation meeting – were conducted virtually. Mobility intends to strengthen open, digital dialogue further. The positivity of early discussions with the delegates and deputy delegates last year affirms the course of action taken. The next step is the expansion of communication channels across the rest of the cooperative’s members.