Executive Summary
New Mobility is a relatively new term used to represent an exciting and imminent reality. Our
individual and societal transportation needs are complex and rapidly-evolving, while being
shaped, constrained, transformed, and defined by a host of global pressures and trends.
Within this context, New Mobility offers a fresh understanding of how we can meet
transportation needs for both people and goods through an integrated network of products,
services, and information technology.
As the concept of New Mobility begins to take root, certain human-induced trends are putting
unprecedented pressures on our global society. “Megatrends” such as climate change,
increasing social disparity, shifting demographics, urbanization, and congestion are affecting
the rate and degree to which populations, regions, and economies can grow and prosper.
This project builds on the work of previous groups, including the Canadian think-tank Moving
the Economyi and a group of three University of Michigan graduate students who, in 2005,
produced a report for Ford Motor Company entitled New Mobility: Future Opportunities for
Ford as a Mobility Integrator.
Our team consists of eight MS students at the School of Natural Resources and Environment
at the University of Michigan. Through a combination of primary and secondary research, we
surveyed the current and future potential for New Mobility products, services, and
technologies in five global cities, vis-à-vis the growing urgency of addressing the
aforementioned megatrends. Our results from each city combined a conventional Market
Attractiveness Analysis with a progressive New Mobility Market Analysis. We then overlaid
these results with Ford’s specific strengths, core competencies, and leadership potential in
each of the five cities. In so doing, we have created a novel new approach to business
project evaluation.
Our results indicate that Bangalore, India is the most attractive New Mobility market, due not
only to the overall market size, but also to the transportation infrastructure gap which is
rapidly emerging as Megatrend pressures intensify. However, our Discussion & Analysis
section identifies a number of other key factors for Ford to consider when selecting how,
when, and why to assume a leadership role in the New Mobility Market.