Brand Loyalty to Fade with Mobility-as-a-Service

Consumers and auto executives agree that loyalty to brand will decline as self-driving shuttles replace personal ownership of passenger vehicles, says IBM’s Institute for Business Value.

The institute’s new Automotive 2030 report says consumers increasingly want their in-car digital services to at least match those they get from their smartphones. The trend creates entirely new ways for carmakers to relate to customers with innovative strategies and services.

The 25-page study polled 1,500 industry executives and 11,600 consumers worldwide. Half of consumer respondents say cost and convenience will matter to them by 2030, but not vehicle brand. That’s because tomorrow’s self-driving vehicles will shift the emphasis from the driving experience to personalized, connected digital services inside the vehicle itself.

Half the executives polled by IBM believe that their companies must digitally reinvent themselves to survive, let alone prosper, in the future. Two in five agree that the need to do is urgent. Two-thirds of auto executives say brand is a competitive advantage today, but fewer than half believe that will be true by 2030.

The IBM study says refocused consumer priorities will be strongest among city dwellers, who already use more digital technologies than those in rural areas. Urban consumers also are far more willing to swap personal information for access to better digital products and services.