Mobility media releases 2020

While the free-floating scheme Mobility Go offers promising prospects in Basel and will continue to operate there, it will be discontinued in Geneva at the end of 2020. The reason for this is the lack of demand, which has continued to decline as a result of COVID-19. Mobility will invest the funds it saves in this way to expand its electric mobility programme.

The free-floating scheme Mobility Go allows vehicles to be located and booked in real time and then parked in a public parking space at the end of the journey. This spontaneous form of car sharing has been available to users in Basel since 2014, while in Geneva it was introduced four years ago. But Mobility will be closing down the programme in Geneva at the end of this year, says Managing Director Roland Lötscher: «Mobility Go was not profitable in Geneva – and would not have been in the foreseeable future. As an SME and a cooperative, we have to invest intelligently and sustainably. That’s why we have decided to put an end to the scheme in Geneva – though it hasn’t been an easy decision.» COVID-19 has been a key factor here: while classic, station-based car sharing in Geneva (123 vehicles at 41 locations) was able to recover quickly after the lockdown in spring, the already fragile figures for usage of Mobility Go continued to decline. This was particularly due to the loss of the popular commuter trips. Mobility will invest the funds freed up by this discontinuation in sustainable goals: the car sharing provider aims to electrify its entire vehicle fleet by 2030 at the latest.

On the look-out for new paths to profitability
In Basel the situation is much more positive: there are 4’200 people who actively use the Go cars in Basel – 1’500 more than in Geneva. So here the scheme will remain in place. «We still believe strongly in free floating,» says Lötscher. But new, intelligent approaches are needed to get this form of mobility into shape for the future. «The goal has to be for our customers to be able to use one and the same Mobility car for different modes of transportation – whether Return, Go or One-Way». This would massively increase capacity utilisation and efficiency. A corresponding test will be implemented in the next few years – with Basel as the pilot city.

IMAGES
Freely downloadable image material: www.mobility.ch/image-archive

CONTACT
Patrick Eigenmann, Head of Corporate Communications, telephone 041 248 21 11, p.eigenmann(at)mobility.ch

SBB is building charging infrastructure and Mobility is using it: by 2023, around 150 electric cars will be available from train stations across Switzerland. This is a way for both companies to drive forward their sustainability efforts. The first station is Europaallee near Zurich Main Station with ten electric cars of varying classes, including four completely new models to the Swiss market.

Mobility has set itself the goal of becoming climate neutral and switching its entire fleet to electric vehicles by 2030 at the latest. The greatest challenge lies in expanding the charging infrastructure. Mobility has been able to find an important station partner in SBB. Over the next three years, the railway company will install electric charging stations produced by Juice Technology for around 150 of its parking spaces across Switzerland at 50 to 60 locations, with Mobility as their long-term lessee. «This is an important step for us towards our sustainable offer for the future», Roland Lötscher, Managing Director of Mobility, is happy to report. «We want as many people in Switzerland as possible to try out electromobility. Locations at train stations are ideal for this because it’s where Mobility has the highest booking rates.» SBB also expects nothing but positive results from combining rail travel and car sharing, as Julia Plümper, E-Infrastructure Project Manager at SBB, explains, «We aim to develop train stations into mobility hubs that allow you to tailor your trips to your individual needs. A mobility chain with rail travel and car sharing with electric cars is ideal from an environmental standpoint and was a dream scenario for both partners.» Electric car sharing also supports SBB’s group strategy to be climate neutral by 2030.

Europaallee Zurich: a wide selection and Swiss debuts
The first station is Europaallee, which is right next to Zurich Main Station. From today, ten electric cars of varying sizes and makes are available from Europaallee, including a Seat Mii electric, Renault Zoé, Hyundai Kona electric, Audi e-tron and Tesla Model 3. The Honda e, VW ID.3, Fiat 500e and Aiways U5 will also be available to book and are all making their debut on the Swiss car market. Lötscher explains: «We’re treating Europaallee as a test location to find out how users react to different electric cars. This will give us a lot of insight for our future planning.» High ranges are guaranteed, especially as the cars can be recharged en route at 50 stations operated by the fast charging provider GOFAST.

E-stations throughout Switzerland
SBB and Mobility will decide which train stations will be fitted with electric parking spaces and electric cars on an ongoing basis between now and 2023. The next stations will open in Aarau, Geneva Eaux-Vives and Morges.

IMAGES
Freely downloadable image material: www.mobility.ch/image-archive

CONTACT
Mobility: Patrick Eigenmann, Head of Corporate Communications, telephone 041 248 21 11, p.eigenmann(at)mobility.ch
SBB: SBB Press Office, press(at)sbb.ch, Tel. +41 (0)51 220 41 11

The new Chairman of the Board of Directors at Mobility is called Markus Mahler. The 48-year-old impresses with his strategic skill and digital expertise.

In Markus Mahler, Mobility is gaining a high-profile leader with a wide range of professional experience. He most recently held the position of CEO of brack.ch for six years and is a member of various boards, including Mahler & Co. AG and Clientis Bank Leerau. Mobility particularly values his digital experience in the platform economy towards which the mobility sector is increasingly moving. «I am fascinated by intelligentmobility solutions and am delighted to be a part of and shape the future with Mobility», explains the 48-year-old.

In addition to the election of Mahler to the Board of Directors, the Mobility Cooperative conference of delegates confirmed the existing memberships of Rolf Georg Schmid (deputy chairman), Sabine Kilgus, Arnd Bätzner and Carol Chisholm. Mahler has served as Chairman of the Cooperative since the Board of Directors was constituted at the end of September 2020 and succeeds Frank Boller, who has reached the maximum tenure of twelve years.

IMAGES
Freely downloadable image material: www.mobility.ch/image-archive

CONTACT
Patrick Eigenmann, Head of Corporate Communications, telephone 041 248 21 11, p.eigenmann(at)mobility.ch

Although the car sharing provider Mobility experienced a slump in demand during the Covid-19 lockdown, booking figures increased sharply in May. This is why the entire vehicle fleet is back in operation – and working reduced hours is no longer necessary as things stand.

As many employees worked from home and the population was limited to strictly essential travel during the lockdown, demand for Mobility fell by around half. However, the easing of government restrictions has bucked the trend. “Many private customers were on the move with Mobility again in May. The number of reservations in this customer segment was only 10% less than usual. This shows that users trust us and that Mobility is very high on their agenda when choosing how to travel”, explains Managing Director Roland Lötscher. The picture is different in the corporate customers sector is different, which accounts for a quarter of all the company’s sales: as business trips are only picking up slowly due to reduced commuter traffic and people working from home, we can expect frequency to remain low for now. “In general, we hope that our business will gradually recover as lockdown measures are eased”, concludes Lötscher.

The range is being increased
Due to the increase in demand, Mobility can now fully reinstate a fifth of its workforce who have been on reduced hours since April. Employees did not experience any loss of earnings during this time, as the company guaranteed 100% of their salaries. Mobility is also gradually returning to the standard range 400 vehicles which were on monthly rental out of solidarity during the lockdown period – in particular to people and organisations in the healthcare sector. The monthly rentals were very well received, explains Lötscher: “We have been completely overwhelmed with requests. Therefore, we are analysing whether we can include long-term rentals in our standard range.” The relevant decision will be made later this year.

Intensive vehicle cleaning
Mobility continues to clean its fleet intensively and on many levels. Intervals have been stepped up during the Covid-19 outbreak, and cars are disinfected after each use. However, the preventative effort by each individual customer remains key to ensuring that they and others are protected.

IMAGES
Freely downloadable image material: www.mobility.ch/image-archive

CONTACT
Patrick Eigenmann, Head of Corporate Communications, telephone 041 248 21 11, p.eigenmann(at)mobility.ch

A test has shown that the idea of incorporating car dealership vehicles in sharing schemes is highly promising. For this reason, Mobility plans to integrate up to 300 vehicles into its range over the course of the next three years, thereby rapidly increasing the density of its station network. A cooperation agreement to this effect has been signed with AGVS, the Swiss association of car dealerships.

By fitting AGVS partner dealership vehicles with car sharing technology, Mobility will be able to add on new stations and make efficient use of existing resources. In return, the dealers profit from revenue generated by cars that would otherwise remain unused virtually round the clock. “It's a win-win situation for everyone involved – including our customers,” says Mobility Managing Director Roland Lötscher. After all, not only will additional stations be set up at dealership premises located in rural areas, those under threat of closure will be preserved, too. This is why Mobility and the AGVS are converting a one-year pilot project into a permanent cooperation. “We plan to offer up to 300 Mobility cars via partner dealers in three years. Since we’re a broad-based transportation provider, this is a logical step for us,” explains Lötscher.

More than 60 car dealers have already signed up
The AGVS is equally convinced that the plan will be a success. “A survey of pilot dealerships has shown that the scheme works. The 67 vehicles involved covered a total distance of more than 600’000 in one year,” says AGVS President Urs Wernli. So the aim of getting unused cars out onto the roads was achieved. Wernli also believes Mobility can expect car dealers to be fundamentally interested in the scheme. “They’re looking for new, future-oriented business models beyond just sales and repairs,” he says.

Energy-efficient cars have priority
Mobility is in the process of upgrading its own fleet by adding alternative drive systems. In order to avoid pursuing a separate path with dealership vehicles in this respect, the company aims to have its partner dealers provide more and more electric cars or hybrids in the future.

IMAGES
Freely downloadable image material: www.mobility.ch/image-archive

CONTACT
Mobility: Patrick Eigenmann, Head of Corporate Communications, telephone 041 248 21 11, p.eigenmann(at)mobility.ch
AGVS: Markus Aegerter, Managing Director Sector Solution, telephone 031 307 15 12, markus.aegerter(at)agvs-upsa.ch

Offering and booking shared rides: Mobility is no longer offering this service for the time being. The Mobility Carpool app launched by the company two years ago is to be discontinued. The reason is lack of demand.

Mobility has offered its Carpool app since 2018, allowing users to share rides both in car sharing vehicles and private cars. The scheme will come to an end on 13 May 2020, at least for the time being, as Managing Director Roland Lötscher explains: "There weren’t enough users and so there weren’t enough car pools." The scheme has recently attracted 12’000 sign-ups – half of them non-Mobility customers – "but more requests and offers were needed to keep them interested and active. This simply didn’t happen." The company believes the main reason for the generally sluggish demand is that Swiss people are reluctant to share their privacy and that the standard of Swiss public transport provision is very high. Lötscher concludes: "The time probably isn't yet ripe for ride-sharing on a large scale in this country. But that doesn't mean we’ll never get to that stage. We’ll be watching the market closely and re-enter the field when we see a reasonable opportunity." One such opportunity might be closed user groups such as commuter solutions for companies.

No connection with corona
Even though the COVID-19 situation did bring carpooling operations to a virtual standstill, the decision was arrived at before the lockdown occurred. As such, COVID-19 was not a factor in the closure of Mobility Carpool.

IMAGES
Freely downloadable image material: www.mobility.ch/image-archive

CONTACT
Patrick Eigenmann, Head of Corporate Communications, telephone 041 248 21 11, p.eigenmann(at)mobility.ch

Over the past year, Mobility achieved a turnover of CHF 78.8 million and a profit of CHF 1.8 million – despite a high level of exceptional expenditure on new business areas and an increasingly tough, competitive market.

Mobility has been busy investing for several years now, which has involved testing, developing and adopting new sharing models. The aim: to be able to offer customers a wide variety of mobility options from a single source. For example, Mobility assumed the remaining non-controlling interests in the free-floating provider Catch a Car in 2019 and integrated this into its range under the name “Mobility Go”. In addition, the number of one-way stations – enabling city-to-city or airport trips – was doubled to 31. The company also ran a successful pilot project to expand its network of stations by converting cars requisitioned from car dealerships into Mobility vehicles. “We were able to grow in all areas last year, despite having invested heavily and facing increasingly strong competition,” summarises Mobility Managing Director Roland Lötscher. This is reflected in the company's turnover of CHF 78.8 million (CHF 600'000), with a profit of CHF 1.82 million (+ CHF 1.04 million). Alongside turnover growth, optimisation measures and one-time effects from the Swiss Tax Reform (STAF) particularly contributed to the profit. As Lötscher concludes: “Our cooperative is in a strong position, giving us a great basis for more innovative and courageous moves in the future.”

Customer growth thanks to occasional drivers
Over 224'000 people are currently signed up with Mobility in Switzerland, 26'200 or 13.2% more than last year. This increase is partly the result of organic growth, but it is also due to the takeover of Catch a Car. “We're seeing particularly rapid growth in the number of occasional drivers,” says Lötscher. “People are organising their everyday mobility in an increasingly spontaneous and needs-oriented way, which plays into the hands of our sharing services.”

More competition in cities
Today, Mobility offers its customers a total of 1'530 stations with 3'120 vehicles. As such it is seen as the uncontested market leader across Switzerland. Competition is growing rapidly in the cities, however, in particular in the area of micromobility. This was also one reason why the cooperative ended its pilot electric scooter project in the city of Zurich during the course of the reporting year. Mobility intends to continue defying the competition in the future with varied range of high-quality services, a sustainable fleet and a high level of, customer satisfaction.

Coronavirus as a challenge for the current year
Mobility is affected by the economic impact of Covid-19, too. In times of lockdown, the number of bookings at certain stations has fallen by up to 50%, which will impact on the year-end result in 2020. The company is responding to this with such measures as cost savings and a new, temporary scheme for monthly rentals.

IMAGES
Freely downloadable image material: www.mobility.ch/image-archive

CONTACT
Patrick Eigenmann, Head of Corporate Communications, telephone 041 248 21 11, p.eigenmann(at)mobility.ch

In these times of Covid-19, carsharing provider Mobility is transferring up to 25% of its cars from its day-to-day operations to a new temporary scheme for monthly rentals. This is to guarantee mobility in Switzerland while at the same time keeping costs down.

Since the Swiss Federal Council announced stricter measures to fight Covid-19 on 13 March 2020, the country's population has been instructed only to travel if essential. Bookings at individual Mobility stations have almost halved since then. This is how the company responded: “From a business point of view it makes no sense to keep cars that aren’t being driven,” explains Managing Director Roland Lötscher. “This is why we are temporarily reducing our services and instead making these cars available for long-term rental to individuals and companies, in particular those in healthcare. In this way we are also contributing to mobility in Switzerland in these difficult times by providing an alternative to public transport.” For the time being, the volume is up to 25% of the 3’120 Mobility vehicles throughout Switzerland. Above all, cars from areas with a dense network of Mobility stations are being used, so that availability remains high for existing customers.

Spitex Wyland is the first customer
Mobility monthly rentals are available at cost price (e.g. Budget category for CHF 420 incl. 1’000 kilometres). This offer is available on a temporary basis to individuals and companies in Switzerland, while weekly rentals are expected to be available soon. In this way, Mobility vehicles will temporarily be transformed into private cars. In Roland Lötscher’s opinion, it is difficult to estimate the demand for this scheme. “We're combining economic necessity and social need to help everyone.” Spitex Wyland is the first customer Mobility is able to assist by providing vehicles to meet its current increased transportation requirements. Healthcare providers such as hospitals are generally given priority by Mobility and are being contacted proactively.

Deep cleaning of the Mobility fleet
For those vehicles that Mobility is keeping in standard operation, the focus is on intensive, multi-stage cleaning as always. This is done using disinfectants and depending on how often cars are used. In addition, Mobility has increased cleaning rotas. In terms of prevention efforts, however, every single customer remains the most important starting point in protecting themselves and others.

Mobility is protecting its employees
Mobility has also taken all the necessary protective measures in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Office of Public Health: all administration employees are working from home, while service employees are being specially trained and supplied with more effective disinfectants and utensils such as disposable gloves. Car care staff belonging to the at-risk group have been temporarily relieved of their duties.

IMAGES
Freely downloadable image material: www.mobility.ch/image-archive

CONTACT
Patrick Eigenmann, Head of Corporate Communications, telephone 041 248 21 11, p.eigenmann(at)mobility.ch

More and more companies are using car sharing because it is more efficient, more sustainable and more economical. Corporate customers now account for one quarter of Mobility's sales. Big-Game Ltd is the 5’000th customer to sign up.

Companies use Mobility in various ways, whether to substitute or supplement their own fleet or as an alternative to privately owned cars. The benefit: increased efficiency and therefore lower costs. “Our customers have complete peace of mind. We take care of everything – from cleaning the vehicles right through to insurance,” explains Head of B2B Anita Kirchberg. Environmental considerations are becoming more and more important, too. “It's possible to calculate how much CO2 a company can save through car sharing, so Mobility is increasingly integrated in sustainability concepts.” As a result, more and more companies are signing up: 5’000 companies now use Mobility – a thousand more than five years ago. They account for nearly 24% of the Cooperative’s total sales.

Firms of all sizes
The biggest customers include SBB, Axpo, the Post Office and the Canton of Aargau, but the majority are SMEs who book Mobility’s 3’000 car sharing vehicles throughout the whole of Switzerland, just like private users. More exclusive options are available too, depending on needs: 180 companies have a “Mobility Flex” car sharing station on their doorstep, for example. Others have their own vehicles fitted with car sharing technology, thereby saving up to 30% of their fleet. As Kirchberg says: “There’s still enormous potential in Switzerland. Companies based in cities in particular often don’t need their own vehicles: car sharing and public transport would be preferable options.”

A Lausanne-based SME is number 5’000
Mobility recently welcomed its 5’000th corporate client: Big-Game Ltd. The three founders Grégoire Jeanmonod, Elric Petit und Augustin Scott de Martinville explain: “With car sharing, we only pay for the transportation we actually use. It also gives us enormous flexibility – after all, we can book the cars on a round-the-clock basis.” But according to Jeanmonod, the most important aspect of all is sustainability: “We want to contribute to eliminating private transportation from our home city of Lausanne and help build a better future for us all.”

IMAGES
Freely downloadable image material: www.mobility.ch/image-archive

CONTACT
Patrick Eigenmann, Head of Corporate Communications, telephone 041 248 21 11, p.eigenmann(at)mobility.ch