Sharing Is Caring: Tight resources mean more automaker tie-ups

摘要

It may seem antithetical for an automotive enthusiast magazine to allocate pages to the idea of life without cars. But this is the reality we live in. Five years ago, the concept of ride-hail and ride-share was barely a blip on society's nav screen-a quirky Silicon Valley experiment. Now Uber is so commonplace that it's in peril of becoming this generation's trademark-protected verb, like Xerox. This reality is also confronting automakers, who are being stretched to serve more masters than they ever expected. Making great engines and cars for the world's drivers used to be the extent of the mission statement in Detroit, Stuttgart, and Tokyo. But automakers are now being pulled in multiple directions with the emergence of autonomous technology, battery-powered and fuel cell vehicles, and, yes, creating cars suitable for ride-sharing.