From car maker to mobility service provider

Everything will change, believes Johann Jungwirth — at least as far as the world of cars is concerned. In ten years, it will be another world stresses the Chief Digital Officer of the Volkswagen Group. In his view, three key developments are forcing the industry to reinvent itself: “Number one: going from combustion engine to electric drive. Number two: going from human driving to self-driving mobiles. And number three: going from ownership to mobility as a service.”

Not every automobile manufacturer will be able to provide a full range of services as the expectations are too daunting. According to a Goldman Sachs study big profits however await companies that succeed in transforming. It also predicts that classical car makers will earn $ 14,000 before interest and tax on each vehicle with good self-driving car fleet management and the associated services — in only three years. This demonstrates enormous potential as up until now the profit margin totaled $ 2,000 for the whole life span of the car.

If it was up to Jungwirth, the customer of the near future will be registered with his own profile via a digital platform. No matter which vehicle he gets into — his personal setup is ready and waiting. The seat adjusts itself into the right position, the preferred radio channel is playing and everything else is also optimized. Mobility as an all-in service. “The experience in this ecological system has to be the best in the world,” says Jungwirth.

At the same time, owners of self-driving cars can “furnish” their vehicles to suit their preferences and thus turn them into an extended living space. The time spent behind the steering wheel can therefore be utilized more purposely than ever before. “You can equip the interior to be your living room, your gaming room, even your wellness room or lounge, your movie theatre, anything you want it to be.” It all provides car companies with the chance to completely redefine their own brand.

Safety is however still the most important aspect of automated driving for Jungwirth. Worldwide there are 1.25 million road fatalities every year and more than 90 per cent of all accidents are down to human error. “Automated driving can prevent them,” says Jungwirth who also thinks automated driving has other potential benefits — it gives blind people, senior citizens and people with ill health the chance to be more mobile.

Jungwirth does not believe that this all-embracing change process will happen to the detriment of the employees in automotive companies. “Looking at the previous industrial revolutions, the first wave, the second wave the third wave, overall there were always more jobs created than lost and it was still prosperity for society.” It will be a similar scenario for Industry 4.0. This means more jobs, not fewer. “But it will be different skills, it will be different jobs, it will be more about AI, it will be about decentralized computing, it will be about many, many new aspects, many new skills, new studies in university. But overall I am quite positive.”