The survey-based research finds that traditional car sharing will increase from 0.7 million members in 2011 to more than 15 million members in 2020. The major interest groups include the young, the well-educated, the office goers, and university students, with no children.

Potential car sharers reported that they would – for the time being – consider replacing one out of three trips with car sharing. Between 25 to 40% of current drivers claimed they would give up their cars and about 60% of non-owners said they would refrain from buying a car.

The growing of the trend can further be observed in the Frost & Sullivan forecast that traditional car sharing in Europe will reach nearly 0.24 million vehicles by 2020. Basic and small vehicles are currently popular options among car sharing operators (CSO).

The future of the market however, will be determined by Peer-to-peer (P2P) car sharing. Though only 18% of respondents seem willing to share their own cars, P2P car sharing has been growing rapidly since 2008, having recorded 100% growth between 2010 and 2011. As a result, the market is expected to have nearly 0.31 million vehicles in operation and more than 0.74 million members by 2020.

While there is little doubt that the car sharing model is a hit in Europe, it has not reached its optimum potential due to attitudinal and operational issues such as the unavailability of a vehicle within short notice, the loss of flexibility, and customers’ reluctance to pay an up-front membership fee.

‘To expand the scope of car sharing services, CSOs could direct their marketing and educational campaigns at the younger demographic. Liasing with universities to build awareness among students prior to the start of their careers would be a wise move,’ noted Frost & Sullivan automotive & transportation research analyst Ricardo Moreira. ‘Further flexibility using location-based services could also be built into the service to attract a larger pool of customers.’

If you are interested in more information on Frost & Sullivan’s latest customer research Car Sharing End-user Analysis in Selected European Cities, please send an email to Katja Feick at [email protected] with your full contact details.