Germans, once a nation of ardent automobile enthusiasts, are not buying cars as much as they used to. Instead, they’re sharing them.
The country has become the world’s biggest user of one-way car sharing plans, where people can find a vehicle using their smartphone, drive it across town and leave it there without having to return it to a central base.
The trend has been boosted by Germany’s powerful auto industry, which first ignored the car sharing phenomenon, but is now jumping on board. Some companies are betting big on the idea, not just for short trips within cities, but also for longer ones between them.
via Steve Crandall.