Urban Mobility Vehicles & Opportunity

My colleague Stephen Metzger has penned an article on the trend towards urban mobility. The big question he asks is whether the small, task-oriented vehicle industry will take advantage of this opportunity. As the golf car manufacturers have focused more on personal transportation vehicles (PTVs) and non-golf utility vehicles, urban mobility vehicles (UMV) would appear to be a natural progression. In addition, UTV manufacturers have some of the capabilities needed to compete in this space.

New Urban Mobility Vehicles

Currently, startups are aggressively pursuing the UMV opportunity. Uniti from Sweden, BARO from the UK and Arcimoto from the US are some of the companies at the forefront on new vehicles and concepts for urban mobility. However, established auto manufacturer Daimler Benz is one exception to the startups with their Smart for Two small vehicle. The electric version of the vehicle is a foundational platform upon which the company plans to build. The question is where are the STOV manufacturers. In short, they appear to be well positioned for the opportunity but will they pursue it?

Marc Cesare, Smallvehicleresource.com