Mobility media releases 2017

City-dwellers who live in the immediate vicinity of a Mobility station save up to 32% in terms of en-ergy and 38% in terms of greenhouse gases. This is the result of investigations carried out by Lucerne School of Business. Car sharing therefore has a key role to play for 2000-watt estates, too.

Scientific data gathered by Lucerne School of Business shows for the first time that proximity to a Mobility station impacts directly on the environment: anyone living within 840 metres of a Mobility car uses less energy and produces a lower volume of greenhouse gases than the average Swiss national. This is because they will frequently use Mobility, a bicycle or public transport rather than a privately owned car. As study director and traffic expert Timo Ohnmacht confirms: “The closer Mobility is located, the better it is for the environment. The biggest savings can be seen where a Mobility car is situated within 100 metres.” In this case, a city-dweller saves 32% in terms of non-renewable primary energy and 38% in terms of greenhouse gases as compared to the average. With a public transport subscription in addition, the figures are even higher – 35% and 57% respectively. As Ohnmacht concludes: “If cities, municipalities and estates wish to achieve their 2000-watt targets they should set up a close-knit car sharing network.”

Car sharing stations on the doorstep
Mobility just recently launched a scheme enabling municipalities, businesses and property management companies to place car sharing vehicles at a location of their choice. Media Officer Patrick Eigenmann: “The Mobility-Flex scheme is a perfect response to the results of the Lucerne School of Business study. The client simply has to provide a parking space – we take care of the vehicle, the booking system and the insurance.” So setting up a car sharing station for local residents is in fact a very straightforward affair.

More and more 2000-watt estates
Mobility-Flex is likely to be of particular interest to 2000-watt residential estates which for a few years now have been able to acquire certification, based on calculations carried out by the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA). Only 20 such estates have taken advantage of this to date, but EnergieSchweiz rates the long-term potential at 900. “We strongly believe that Mobility car sharing will be key factor for energy-saving living in the future,” says Eigenmann.

Mobility-Flex enables companies, municipalities and residential complexes to have a car sharing station positioned right on their doorstep. The key advantage is that the more the car is used, the less the scheme costs.

Studies show that one Mobility car replaces ten privately owned cars – and it saves a lot of parking spaces, too. What is more, users save money because they only pay for the transportation they really need. This is why more and more municipalities, companies and property management firms want car sharing schemes for their staff and residents – something that Mobility is more than happy to offer: "Mobility-Flex allows legal entities to open a car sharing station wherever they want," says company spokesman Patrick Eigenmann. All they have to provide is the parking space. "We take care of the vehicle, the insurance, the booking system and cleaning."

Every time the car is used, the cost to the client is reduced
The client selects the vehicle category required, ranging from small to large. The vehicle can be used not only by staff and tenants but by all other Mobility customers, too, so it is possible to block specific periods for dedicated use.
The annual fee for the smallest vehicle category starts at CHF 12'650. In return, Mobility reimburses the scheme provider for all sales generated by staff as well as 75% of revenue generated by tenants and Mobility customers, likewise on an annual basis. "The more the station is used, the lower the overheads," says Eigenmann. Mobility-Flex has now been introduced as a generic scheme to replace three separate individual solutions previously offered by Mobility.

Car sharing cooperative Mobility is seeking to broaden its customer base; one way it is doing this is by offering attractive models of cars. Until October, 30 Audi A3 Convertibles are being made available across a number of towns and cities.

Mobility attaches particular importance to maintaining an up-to-date fleet. Last year alone, the cooperative added 820 new vehicles to its 2’950-strong offering, which comprises a wide range of models, including Smart cars, estates and vans. Particularly popular are the cars in its "Emotion" and "Cabrio" categories, in which the focus is on attractiveness. They include 50 Audi Q2 sports utility vehicles – and now 30 grey Audi A3 Convertibles. Mobility Communication & Media Officer Patrick Eigenmann says: "We are seeking to provide cars to suit every purpose and taste as a way of convincing as many people as possible of the merits of carsharing." The more customers the cooperative can attract, the better it is for the environment, argues Eigenmann. "Many people sell their second – or even their only car – when they join Mobility. That is the sustainable aspect of our mobility concept."

The convertibles are located near railway stations in the following towns and cities until October 2017: Aarau, Baden, Basel, Bellinzona, Bern, Biel, Chur, Fribourg, Geneva, Lausanne, Locarno, Lugano, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Olten, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thun, Uster, Winterthur, Zug and Zurich.

When the Mobility Cooperative came into existence two decades ago, car sharing was still very much in its infancy. Today things look very different: as a pioneer of the sharing economy, Mobility serves more than 131’000 customers – and aims to become the biggest national provider of individual transportation services.

A privately owned car remains unused for 23 out of 24 hours according to federal statistics. ATG Stans and Sharecom Zürich saw the enormous potential of this as long ago as the 1980s when they launched the first car sharing schemes. It was in 1997 that they joined forces to form the Mobility Cooperative. The decision was a wise one: having started life with one red car, eight users, key boxes and hand-written reservation lists, Mobility is now a technologically elaborate self-service system with 2’950 vehicles and 131’700 customers all over Switzerland. Bookings are made via an app, chip cards are used to open the cars and on-board computers transmit mileage and hours to the Mobility systems. "Mobility opted for technology and digitisation right from the outset," says Managing Director Patrick Marti. "This was what made car sharing successful on a mass scale."

Convenience and cost as the main arguments
As the scheme has grown in scale, so the arguments of Mobility users have changed. Originally they tended to be motivated by ecology, "but today it’s more about the money to be saved and the sheer convenience of the scheme," explains Marti: after all, you have spontaneous, round-the-clock access to an automobile without having to worry about parking, cleaning or insurance. The well-developed public transportation network is another bonus for car sharers: "Anyone who lives in a city today can do entirely without a privately owned car thanks to public transport and Mobility," says the 36-year-old.

Big visions for the future
The company has ambitious plans to take its success forward into the future, too. Its aim is to become the largest national provider of individual mobility services in Switzerland In order to achieve this goal, it is seeking to advance a wide range of shared mobility solutions. Alongside the classic service, free-floating car sharing as offered by the subsidiary Catch a Car in Basel and Geneva is to become a mainstay of business operations. Mobility is also seeking to play a major role in the area of self-driving vehicles – a pilot project involving self-driving shuttles was recently initiated in Zug. As Patrick Marti summarises: "Our aim is to offer a comprehensive range of mobility options, enabling every customer to select what they need at any given time. So I firmly believe that Mobility is well on the way to a bright future."

Mobility consulted more than 2000 customers last year. The results of the survey show that their overall satisfaction ratings are a high 8.9 out of 10 points. Customers were especially pleased with the 24h Service Center, the range of vehicle categories and the dense network of Mobility stations.

Car sharing provider Mobility conducts regular representative surveys amongst its customers to improve its service. The latest results show that overall satisfaction ratings amongst Mobility users are a high 8.9 out of 10 points. Particularly highly rated, at 9.3 points, are the friendliness of the telephone-based Service Center and, at 9.2 points, its professionalism. Customers are equally appreciative of the dense network of Mobility stations (8.8), the fact that the vehicles are easy to use (8.7), and the round-the-clock availability of the nine different categories of vehicle (8.6). Receiving the lowest scores were the hourly and kilometre rates (7.7), although this figure still ranks in the top quarter of the scale. "Our users have awarded us an excellent set of marks," declares Communication Officer Patrick Eigenmann. "It shows we’re getting things right. Our job is now to maintain that level or even, where possible, improve it." The company is seeking to achieve that by offering even more Mobility stations in urban centres, as well as attractive vehicles.

96% of users would recommend Mobility
The high customer satisfaction ratings go hand-in-hand with the connectedness that users feel with the company. Asked whether they would recommend Mobility to others, 96% answered "yes, definitely" or "most probably". "We are delighted with that figure, since word-of-mouth recommendations are the best form of advertising," says Eigenmann.

Last year, Mobility once again showed improvements across all key performance indicators: today, 131’700 people in Switzerland are sharing 2’950 vehicles parked at 1’500 Mobility stations. The Mobility Group's net earnings were CHF 76 million.

Since its establishment two decades ago, Mobility has continued to grow in just one direction: upwards. The Cooperative has similarly ambitious goals: "In the long term, we want to be the largest national provider of individual transport services," says Managing Director Patrick Marti. To achieve this goal, the company is investing in a wide range of shared mobility solutions. The main pillar is the classic Mobility offer, which is constantly growing and is currently being used by 131’700 customers (+4’400 compared to the previous year). They can choose from 2’950 vehicles (+50) at 1’500 Mobility stations (+40). "We are particularly pleased about the above-average influx of young people. This makes me positive about the future, as does our progress in the corporate segment," says Marti. In the past year, 4’600 companies used Mobility, which is 400 more than in 2015.
"Free-floating" car sharing is Mobility’s second pillar. Its subsidiary Catch a Car AG is operating such a service in Basel and Geneva. "We want to extend this service to other cities in future in order to offer Switzerland a broad-based and comprehensive range of car sharing options."

Net annual profit of CHF 3.4 million
In 2016, Mobility increased its net income from deliveries and services by 2.7% to CHF 76.0 million and the gross profit from deliveries and services by 5.4% to CHF 48.8 million. This encouraging development is due in part to the highly efficient management of the vehicle fleet. This was, however, offset by higher costs for IT infrastructure and write-downs on vehicle stock as a result of falling prices for second-hand vehicles. The net annual profit (excluding non-controlling interests) amounted to CHF 3.4 million.

Mobility attaches particular importance to sustainability and environmental compatibility. Since it is currently not clear how much nitrogen oxide diesel engines actually emit, the car sharing provider will gradually be replacing 700 diesel-powered vehicles with petrol models, starting in the spring. In the company’s view, legislators and manufacturers are called upon to clarify the situation as soon as possible.

Studies show that the main sustainability leverage provided by car sharing is that users share cars instead of purchasing one themselves. In Switzerland alone there are 30’000 fewer privately owned cars on the roads thanks to Mobility. But it is not just the concept of sharing that is environment-friendly: so are the car sharing vehicles themselves. "As far as possible we only use energy-efficient vehicles in our fleet," says Communication Officer Patrick Eigenmann. This is why the company regards it as particularly regrettable that it is currently entirely unclear as to how much nitrogen oxide really is emitted by diesel engines. "Experts assume that the real figures are many times the manufacturer specifications, but unfortunately no reliable information is available. This is why we have decided to take initial action in the Economy category, where we will gradually be replacing 700 diesel cars with petrol models." This number is just under one quarter of the entire Mobility fleet.

The dilemma: more petrol means more CO2
Mobility’s decision to increase its share of petrol-run cars also puts the cooperative in something of a dilemma: petrol-run cars emit less nitrogen oxide than diesel vehicles, but their CO2 emissions are higher. "This will make it difficult for us to meet the Swiss national CO2 targets," says Eigenmann. Based on manufacturer specifications as they stand today, Mobility believes it is fully capable of doing so, Eigenmann says, but as soon as new testing methods such as the WLTP are introduced which produce more realistic figures, "the Swiss federal government will have to adjust its targets downwards". Generally speaking Mobility welcomes all measures on the part of legislators and manufacturers aimed at establishing more transparent and more realistic emission figures.

With today’s opening of the station in Chêne-Bougeries, all Swiss municipalities with a population of more than 10’000 now have at least one Mobility car. The car sharing cooperative sees potential in urban areas in particular.

Mobility is constantly growing. In its founding year the car sharing company started out with 760 cars: the current number of vehicles is 2’900. They are available throughout the whole of Switzerland and can be used on a self-service basis. "Considering the cost and effort involved in running a privately owned car, car sharing is a preferable option in all respects for many people," says Mobility Communication Officer Patrick Eigenmann. Today’s opening of the station in the Geneva district of Chêne-Bougeries means Mobility now has a presence in all Swiss municipalities with a population of over 10’000. "This is a welcome milestone as we move towards establishing an increasingly dense network of stations," says Eigenmann.

Urban areas as a growth market
Seven out of ten Mobility stations all over Switzerland are currently located in cities or conurbations. In the future, Mobility will continue to focus particularly on urban areas, too. Public transportation is especially well developed in this type of area – this is a bonus for car sharers since the two options are often combined. 

Selective expansion in the country
In spite of this, Mobility’s network of stations is close-knit in rural areas, too: there is at least one of the red car sharing vehicles available in 85% of municipalities with a population of over 5’000. "We only see selective expansion capacity in towns of this size, however," says Eigenmann. "The primary aim here will be to maintain our high level of service wherever possible in the future."