(Bloomberg) — Despite fears to the contrary, the emergence of the sharing economy may not lead to the death of Detroit, after all, according to a new study from automotive researcher Kelley Blue Book (KBB).
Car-sharing services such as Avis Budget Group Inc.'s Zipcar and ride-hailing services like Uber Technologies Inc. will remain substitutes for rental-car companies and taxis with little impact on vehicle ownership, according to the study conducted by Vital Findings for KBB. More than three-quarters of people who use ride-sharing services said they intend to purchase or lease their own vehicle within the next two years, according to the survey of 1,900 U.S. residents.
As the sharing economy rolls out, automakers have viewed it as a threat to sales if car ownership falls out of fashion. To hedge against that, automakers are getting in the car-sharing business. In January, General Motors Co. invested $500 million in Lyft, the second-largest U.S. ride-hailing company. GM also created its own car-sharing business, Maven. Daimler AG, BMW AG and Ford Motor Co. have also created similar ventures.
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