Reshaping Urban Mobility: Opportunities from the automotive industry crisis and the “peak car”.

Abstract

The Automobile Industry is one of the most important sectors of the European economy. Together with the decreasing production and new registrations of passenger cars, another trend seems to have been arising over the years: Europeans are driving less and are likely to continue doing so. The effects of such a phenomenon – also known as “peak car” – are intertwined with mobility regulations and future urban development plans. Very little evidence, however, exits on how the current industry players, in particular carmakers, are adapting to the new scenario. In this dissertation, I explore what are the opportunities for the industry main players of the “peak car” and the following changes in both the dominant architecture of cars as well as of urban mobility systems.