TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- To understand why automakers, suppliers and startups are rushing to enter the mobility service space, just follow the money.
Ridecell, a Silicon Valley startup that provides a software platform for car-sharing and ride-hailing services, said such business models will have a market cap of $9 trillion by 2030.
That's six times the estimated market cap of all automotive companies today, according to Mark Thomas, Ridecell's vice president of marketing and alliances.
"There's going to be a huge amount of wealth that's going to be created with these services," he said Wednesday at the Management Briefing Seminars. The combination of autonomous technology, on-demand services and electrified powertrains is the "triple disruption" that is going to change transportation forever, he said.
Less than 1 percent of all passenger miles globally comes from new mobility services, such as ride-hailing, car-sharing or self-driving shuttles. But that's expected to grow to represent about a third of all miles traveled by 2030. At some point during that time, personal vehicle sales will be eclipsed by mobility service sales, he predicted.
Ridecell was founded in 2009 and works with more than 20 partners, including college campuses, auto clubs and automakers such as BMW and Renault.
Thomas said Ridecell's services could be used by dealerships as well. He envisions offering remote test drives, where customers could verify their information online, scan a QR code on their phone and remotely unlock a vehicle, instead of going through a tedious process on a dealer lot.
"Finding the guy at the dealership who's thinking about how to transform his business isn't always easy, but the application of on-demand technology can help sell more cars," he said. "There's many ways to add convenience and luxury that aren't about reinventing yourself as a car-sharing company." c