Car sharing in China holds promise, despite bumpy road

Despite challenges in China's car-sharing economy, shared mobility still has a promising future, according to Huashang Daily.

TOGO, an internet-based car sharing company, has faced a flurry of deposit refunds recently. While some companies are in trouble and the industry profitability is not clear, auto manufacturers are stepping up their efforts in the market.

At present, local players can be divided into three categories -- internet startups, local self-owned original equipment manufacturers, and traditional car rental companies.

Carmaker SAIC Motor launched its online ride-hailing platform Xiangdao Chuxing on Dec 18, four days after a similar service called ReachNow was unveiled by BMW Group in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province. In addition, auto manufacturers including Dongfeng Motor, Geely Auto and Great Wall Motor have all opened their own ride-hailing services.

The moves follow a drop in auto sales in the world's largest auto market. In the first 11 months of this year, China's auto market saw a sales decline of 1.7 percent year-on-year to 25.42 million vehicles, while output fell 2.6 percent to 25.33 million vehicles, the CAAM data showed.

Carmakers' transformation to a customer-oriented service provider has become a way to ease the burden of excess inventory, the report said. However, the lack of industry standards, the occupation of public resources by shared cars, parking problems, and safety regulations for new energy vehicles still need to be resolved.

The potential market capacity this year for China's car-sharing market may be 1.8 trillion yuan ($261 billion), according to the consultancy Roland Berger. From 2020 to 2025, the ride-sharing industry will gradually be dominated by online ride-hailing and car-sharing, it predicted.