Future of Mobility

An article by Ben Wojdyla explains Car2go’s pilot phase in Ulm Germany where the company started with 50 vehicles. The concept of this private but public form of transportation was deemed successful. Because of the company’s success, it decided to move internationally to the United States and chose Austin as its North American headquarters.

http://www.automobilesreview.com/auto-news/car2go-for-all-200-good-reasons-for-rediscovering-city-driving/11562/

According to the company’s main website when the pilot phase in North America began, Austin started out with 200 vehicles. Within a year, 10,000 people became members of Car2go because of its ingenious idea of solving urban mobility. According to theAmerican Statesman, the company plans on replacing the current vehicles with 300 special addition cars and expanding the operation area on March 18, 2011 in hopes to increase the number of members.

Even though Austin is currently the only city in the United States where Car2go operates, it plans to expand to other dense urban cities later this year (American Statesman). The company believes that since the pilot phase in Austin was successful, Car2go will also be successful in northern metropolitan cities. The future of Car2go will continue to expand the company to other urban cities helping with the problems of mobility and environmental issues.

As time becomes an issue in everyone’s lives, Car2go is planning on changing the transportation industry by allowing customers to go “where they want, when they want, and how they want”(cheap bargain) allowing people to save time an money.

Going “Green”

Global warming and environmental concerns have grown exponentially in the past few years. Many urban cities are taking action to help the environment by improving air quality and encouraging more recycling by going “green.”

Car2go sets their goals around providing a transportation system that give its customers a way to feel involved with lowering environmental impact. The Car2go website states “Car2go serves to substantially reduce the emissions and congestion common in dense urban cores” such as Austin. The cars help reduce emissions because the vehicles used are the most fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles on the road today.

http://weblog.greenpeace.org/cars/2008/11/

The website states on its environmental page (par 2) that the average Car2go uses 4 hours of utilization a day while privately-owned vehicles generally use only 1-2 hours and sometimes occupies valuable parking spots. This information is important because the Car2gos have a lower impact on the environment.

According to eMercedesBenz, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored Car2go in 2010 with the “Clean Air Excellence Award in the category of Transportation Efficiency Innovations.” This prestigious award proves Car2go is slowly starting to accomplish its goal of reducing toxic air emissions and improving the environment.

Overall, Car2go is a company that has a purpose of increasing urban mobility while helping the environment and tending to its customers. Do you think this company has accomplished their goals?

Car2go: A Business Dependent on Technology

Car2go is one of the many companies dependent on technology to serve customer’s needs. These Smart Fortwo vehicles contain many features that work together to increase urban mobility and reduce toxic emissions. Some of these innovations include: the membership cards with the RFID chip, the GPS touch screen, the Iphone application, and the solar panel roof.

The Car2go website talks about the membership card that a member receives after signing up and how it uses an RFID chip. The chip identifies the member and allows for locking and unlocking capabilities of the vehicle. Once in the car, the member must type in their pin number on the touch screen, which accesses the member’s credit card information and begins charging them for use of the car by the minute.

The touch screen is also used for GPS and radio purposes. The GPS can be used as a map and will give you directions simply by typing in an address to a specific destination

The Iphone application that is available for Car2go, allows users to locate the nearest available vehicle. It gives information such as fuel level, cleanliness, a map of where the car is, and informs the viewer how far they must walk from their current location. The application also allows for reservations 24 hours in advance so a member is guaranteed a vehicle when it is needed.

http://iphone.wareseeker.com/screenshot/car2go-austin.zip/431b6db3d5

The newest cars have a solar panel roof that provide 100 Watts of power and is used to charge the car’s battery. This allows for a 10% decrease in fuel consumption (par 2), which helps these vehicles become more fuel-efficient.

Overall, the technology used in the Smart Fortwo vehicles all work together to help provide a good experience for the customer. By reaching customer needs, Car2go will continue to work to become the most fuel efficient and mobile service in Austin.

Next week, I will be discussing Car2go’s competitive advantage against other transportation systems. Please feel free to make any comments if you feel that the technology in Car2go helps the overall experience.

The Success of Good Customer Relationships

In the current market, businesses base their business processes around customer relationships and fulfilling the customer’s needs. Cuong Huynh says “The trademark of Car2go is its user friendly system developed to meet and exceed the needs of customers” (par 9). To meet the needs of the company’s target customers, Car2go provides a website that is easy to navigate, a call help center, and 24/7 service teams.

The Car2go website presents information in an organized matter, making it easy for customers to answer their questions. The information provided includes information such as the main concept of Car2go, the importance of mobility, how the vehicles are helping the environment, and frequently asked questions.

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Car2go also provides a call help center that is available at all hours. The purpose is to assist customers with questions that cannot be answered by the company website as well as increase customer intimacy through verbal contact with Car2go representatives. Improving customer intimacy has a positive influence on customers by encouraging them to use the rental service it provides.

Finally, Car2go provides a 24/7 service team that cleans and refuels the vehicles every few days. The purpose is to provide a clean and desirable service that will keep the customers happy and save them time.

Overall, Car2go focuses their company on the needs of its customers to increase customer relationships. This is a concept all businesses should take into consideration if they want to be successful in the future.

If you have any good experiences using Car2go or have noticed other ways the company improved its services for its customers, I encourage you to share them.

Welcome to Urban Mobility

Welcome! As many of you know, Austin is known for its narrow roads, 5 p.m. traffic, and terrible parking. The consistent annoyance has sparked the appearance of a relatively new transportation system to help reduce traffic congestion and toxic emissions while increasing urban mobility.

http://www.car2go.com

Car2go came to Austin in November of 2009 as a trial to see how successful this company would be at increasing urban mobility while providing an on-the-go rental service. Currently, the company has over 10,000 members due to its accessibility, simplicity, and cheap prices. To gain access to these vehicles, you must pay a small fee to become a member and register online. All of this information and more can be found on the Car2go’s main website www.car2go.com.

From a business perspective, Car2go has the potential to make a difference in urban cities. Over the next few weeks, I will discuss the different aspects of the company that make it the success it is today.

Such aspects include:

• The company’s good customer relations
• The use of new technology
• The company’s environmental concerns
• The company’s future goals

Throughout the blog, please feel free to make comments about your opinion of Car2go. Next week I will introduce the success of how the company keeps customers coming back through superior customer relationships.