GM’s biggest threat may no longer be big Japanese carmakers like Toyota.
The automaker is launching a pilot project for residents of the Ritz Plaza apartments in Times Square, offering them the ability to rent GM cars by the hour, relieving these Manhattan residents of the burden of owning a car one of the most densely-packed locations in the world, according to a report in Bloomberg News.
The program is a response to car-sharing services like Zipcar and Uber, which cater to city-dwellers and others who find it convenient to not own a car, but still need one to get around from time to time. It’s also likely a recognition of what could be a big problem for American car makers: the slowing of growth in miles driven in the U.S.
As you can see from the chart above. the growth total number of miles driven in the United States has slowed dramatically since the financial crisis, reflecting the weak economy, but also a potential cultural shift in which fewer folks see car ownership as a must. As GM President Dan Ammann told Bloomberg: “We view evolving consumer preferences, such as car-sharing, as real business opportunities.”
The news comes after U.S. auto sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 18.2 million in September–the highest in more than 10 years, according to Bloomberg.
A combination of Labor Day, low oil prices and low oil prices created high demand. It doesn’t hurt that economists expect that September boasted solid job growth. GM, Ford, and Nissan Motor all beat analysts’ expectations for the month.
- What We Know So Far About the Deadly Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
- Beyoncé's Album of the Year Snub Fits Into the Grammys' Long History of Overlooking Black Women
- How the U.S. Shot Down the Alleged Chinese Spy Balloon
- Effective Altruism Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse, Women Say
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- 'Return to Office' Plans Spell Trouble for Working Moms
- 8 Ways to Read More Books—and Why You Should
- Why Aren't Movies Sexy Anymore?
- How Logan Paul's Crypto Empire Fell Apart
