Sharing Economy - Use or Own? That is the question here! Are you as agile and flexible as the mobility of tomorrow? From car sharing and other business models of the mobility of the future.

Sharing models such as Airbnb, Uber or TaskRabbit are now firmly integrated into our everyday lives - and new offerings from various industries for sharing goods and services are constantly being added.

The basic principle of sharing is not new. From an early age, we learn to share things with others. In the past, people borrowed or exchanged things that they could not afford due to a lack of financial resources. In today's world, however, where prosperity has created an affluent society, people are increasingly reflecting on the essentials. The visible consequences of mass consumption for people and the environment are boosting demand for sustainable consumption.

However, the "sharing economy" places collaborative consumption at the center of economic activity. Sharing is therefore no longer just a trend, but the driver of new business models that focus on sharing products or services instead of selling them.

An example for an emerging business model, is the pioneer approach from Lynk & Co. This approach is a combination of sharing and car subscription and involves complex financial processes in the background. 

The business model for sharing is putting the platform at the center of activity. Other main actors are the Owner and Seeker for the offer, representing the supply and demand on the market. The actors get access to the market through the platform. 

Development of new business models
New business models can be used to develop new offerings and thus tap into additional user groups. This results in innovative strength in a partially saturated market environment.

Optimization through data
The use of a digital platform opens up a treasure trove of data - user data can be collected and analyzed in a targeted manner.

Resource utilization & agility
In terms of sustainable consumption, resources can be used collectively. Sharing models also enable access to resources that would have been inaccessible, for example, due to high acquisition costs. Market changes can be addressed in a flexible and agile manner because fewer investments have been made.

Economies of scale
The platform is a scalable technology - the high investments at the beginning are only offset by low additional costs due to a higher number of users.

The mobility sector is a particular focus of the sharing economy. Here, the possibilities are limitless: car sharing, shared cabs (so-called ride pooling), ride sharing, rental bicycles and the like. 

Since vehicles are associated with high acquisition and maintenance costs, carsharing models are particularly popular in the sharing economy.

A rough distinction is made between three different business models:

1. Station-based 
Here a station defines the start and end point of the trip, you rent the car basically for a round trip.

2. A-B Sharing
A bit more flexible is the renting of the car from point A to point B. The car can be picked up at a fixed point and brought back to another point. So the car can be picked up at a specified location and dropped off at another location/parking lot. This is particularly suitable for vehicles with zero-emission drives that require a charging station. Availability and location of the vehicles can be planned, trips can be booked in advance.

3. Free floating 
The free floating model offers the most flexibility. The car can be dropped off at any location within a specified radius. The car is located via app and borrowed from where the last user left it. Journeys can thus only be booked shortly before the start of the journey. 

In the meantime, mixed forms of free-floationg and station-based offers from a single source are also common on the market.