On the outskirts of Stuttgart, the German city where Gottlieb Daimler invented the automobile 129 years ago, a team of engineers is envisioning a future when people won’t own or even drive their cars.
Instead, the few dozen members of Daimler’s business innovation unit are figuring out how current customers’ children will use the carmaker’s products. That can mean everything from car-sharing in Chinese megacities to 3-D printing for classic car parts, package-delivery drones and a driverless concept car that doubles as a luxury lounge.
Reviewing the best use for the automobile has become a necessity for the company as more drivers question the traditional concept of individual ownership. As transport evolves from a product to a service, changes set in motion by the likes of Google, Uber and Tesla Motors are forcing Daimler to react and make bold predictions about the future of mobility.
“As the inventor of the automobile, we see our role in reinventing the car of the future,” Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in an interview. The change is accelerating, he added, and autos in the future will “differ more starkly from today’s vehicles than has been the case over the past 10 to 20 years.”
Daimler has a unique place in the auto industry. The company makes almost everything with wheels and an engine, including passenger cars, delivery trucks and city buses. The three points on the Mercedes star represent the founders’ goal of motorizing land, sea and air.
