London, U.K - Increasing road congestion, the difficulty of finding parking spaces in constantly growing cities and rising petrol/diesel costs turn daily commutes and city traveling into expensive and even harmful journeys. The last 5 years saw the cost of congestion in Europe almost triple and go up from approximately 63 Billion Euros in 2006 to 200 Billion Euros in 2011.

Automakers around the world are working towards developing new vehicle models to alleviate mobility in urban areas. But they also need support from governments and local authorities to align their future mobility vision, products and services toward customers’ unmet needs.

The impact of urbanization, the growth of mega-cities and the change in the consumer’s demand for mobility services will be at the heart of Frost & Sullivan’s upcoming 2012 conference entitled ‘Urban Mobility 3.0: OEMs New Mobility Offerings and New Business Models Linking Web 2.0′, taking place in London on 13th and 14th June.

Day one of the conference, taking place at the House of Lords in the House of Parliament, will facilitate a debate to promote thinking, in industry and in government, about contrasting future mobility scenarios: On one side, those in favor of the development of more sustainable personal transport (i.e. cars), on the other, those in favor of developing integrated multi-modal public transport. Each panel will discuss the future of mobility within their transport mode and attempt to prove why, where and how government policies should support their industry.

“The continuous growth of urban areas poses numerous challenges for our mobility of the future: how will new mobility models, such as high speed rail, cycling infrastructure or door-to-door services change and improve transport? What impact will these solutions have on environmental issues, such as noise and air pollution or congestion?,” outlines Partner and Global Practice Director, Sarwant Singh.

“Evidence suggests that consumers want connected mobility, but what steps are being taken to provide this kind of connectivity? Our debate is intended to answer all those questions and to identify the kind of support the industry needs in terms of government policy, subsidies and investments,” he concludes.

Day two will be held at The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) and feature keynote speeches and panel discussions with experts from both the Automotive industry as well as the public sector, such as ALD International, BMW AG, Car2go, City Car Club, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Urban Development, Karsan, Logica, as well as Siemens Infrastructure & Cities UK, Technology Strategy Board, Transport Knowledge Transfer Network, and Zipcar Europe.

If you are interested in more information on Frost & Sullivan’s event ‘Urban Mobility 3.0: OEMs New Mobility Offerings and New Business Models Linking Web 2.0′, please e-mail Katja Feick, Corporate Communications, at katja.feick@frost.com.

A limited number of complimentary passes are available to members of the media. Please also visit the event website for more background information:

Official Sponsors of ‘Urban Mobility 3.0′ are Karsan, Siemens, BMWi and Daimler FleetBoard GmbH.

Image Courtesy of  Darren Brode / Shutterstock.com

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As the U.S. economy continues to improve this year, Paul Taylor, chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association, predicts more than 13.9 million new cars and light trucks will be purchased or leased in 2012.

Taylor, who is forecasting sales of 13.945 million new cars and light trucks for 2012 in the U.S., cites three key factors for the increase:

(1)   Aging vehicles,

(2)   Affordable credit, and

(3)   Aggressive incentives.

A key factor that will drive new-vehicle sales in 2012, says Taylor, is pent-up demand in the marketplace caused by more consumers shopping out of necessity to replace their aging vehicles.

“With the age of cars and trucks on the road today at nearly 11 years, consumers can no longer delay making a purchase of a new or newer vehicle,” he said.

Another factor that is likely to result in higher auto sales this year is the availability of affordable credit from competing lending sources for auto loans.

“Interest rates on new car loans will remain historically low in 2012, due in part to policy decisions by the Federal Reserve Board to keep rates low and the U.S. economy growing,” Taylor added. “As a result, affordable credit will be widely available in 2012 with more automaker finance companies offering low-interest and interest-free loans for up to 60 months.”

Taylor notes that both domestic and international automakers will wage an aggressive battle to capture U.S. market share in 2012 by rebuilding a diverse selection of vehicle inventory at dealerships, ranging from cars and CUVs to truck-based SUVs. A decline in gasoline prices will also result in car buyers considering a wider range of vehicles in different segments, he added.

“Auto sales typically increase with the exposure given to new vehicles during the auto show season in the first quarter and beyond,” Taylor added. “Lower vehicle costs for car buyers through manufacturer incentives and rebates combined with low interest rates will support stronger sales in 2012. And higher prices on used vehicles mean higher trade-in prices when shopping for a new car or truck.”

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