Our mental models about mobility—individually owned cars, gas stations, traffic jams, the driver’s license as a rite of passage—are on the verge of disruption. Mobility is about to become cheaper, more convenient, a better experience, safer, and cleaner—not 50 or even 25 years from now, but perhaps within a dozen.
We describe the coming transformation as mobility’s Second Great Inflection Point, because it has the potential to be as profound as the one that put horses to pasture and revolutionized industries and societies worldwide. A defining characteristic of the new world taking shape is that the automotive industry, which has operated for more than a century alongside but decidedly disconnected from other components of what transportation has come to mean, will blend into a more interconnected, customer-centric ecosystem. That shift boosts the odds that the momentous changes afoot will affect your business, even if the closest you currently get to a car is your morning commute.
In a companion article, we describe the pressures on the old model, the bursts of innovation (ranging from vehicle autonomy and connectivity to electrification and ridesharing), and the evolving expectations that are propelling us toward the second great inflection point (see “Mobility’s second great inflection point”). Here, we drill down on what lies ahead: How exactly will cars, roads, and the customer experience soon be changing? (Think mainstream electric vehicles [EVs]; robots reading maps; interconnected, intelligent infrastructure networks; and, for a growing number of situations, “pay per use.”) What does that portend for competitive dynamics across the broadening mobility ecosystem? (As profit pools reorder and business models transform, opportunities will arise for a wider array of players, challenging OEMs’ notions of their competitive sets.) What are the implications for society, and what speed bumps may we hit along the way? Finally, how should leaders who aren’t yet immersed in the mobility revolution prepare for its imminent arrival? Fresh thinking about industry borders, adjacent opportunities, transport and logistics, and partnership possibilities are all needed.
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SOURCE: McKinsey & Company
