Lyft Car Essay

Background The sharing economy has upended the operating model of many industries leaving many companies struggling to adjust to the changes. Car manufacturers have remained unaffected, but many now feel that this reprieve may be temporary. The sharing economy’s origins can be traced back to the start of EBay in 1995 . EBay provided users an international platform to sell their personal items. For the first time, any seller could connect to a buyer regardless of geographic location. However, it would be over a decade until the modern sharing economy developed. The advent of the first iPhone brought mobile applications, known as apps. Companies such as Uber saw the potential and quickly built business models with this new technology . Lyft …show more content…
As Uber and Lyft make transportation more accessible, less people will purchase vehicles. Metropolitan areas present the demographic most likely to forgo car ownership, with rural communities more likely to continue purchasing cars. These negative effects have yet to transpire. 20-25% of urban vehicles are estimated to be used for ridesharing by 2025, leading to a 20% drop in car ownership . A 20% decline in car sales would be catastrophic for many companies, motivating many to start looking at alternative strategies to adjust to the changing …show more content…
It has recently announced an app to allow owners to rent their Ford vehicles . A ford owner would use the app to connect with a consumer. The model is similar to Zipcar where consumers rent vehicles by the hour, offering more flexibility than traditional car rental services. Ford’s financing department is marketing the effort as a way for consumers to help finance their vehicles. Additionally, Ford hopes that if renters eventually purchase a car, it will be a Ford. This project is still in its testing phase, but if successful will lead many other manufacturers to follow Ford’s