Smart Urban Mobility Study: Car Manufacturers Play No Role in the Debate

In the discussion about the mobility of the future, automobile manufacturers play a subordinate role. At least that is the conclusion of a study based on the evaluation of 350,000 articles and posts, conducted between October 2020 and March 2022 by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) and media intelligence market research specialist UNICEPTA. Before the pandemic, the inevitable path towards electromobility was still the focus, but in the last two years, more and more concepts for a fundamental change in mobility seem to be coming to the forefront, according to the analysts. The evaluation of 350,000 reports in traditional media and social media posts on thematic focal points around smart mobility and their origins showed that in the context of urban mobility, electromobility was rarely addressed.

"Driven by the pandemic and the climate crisis, long-term visions are being sought in the media debate. Hence, more and more holistic concepts and the question of how to make cities more livable are being discussed, rather than small-scale technical solutions or products," the analysts concluded.

Associated with this are primarily technological developments and car-free inner cities, driven by the considerations of large metropolises. Particularly frequently, the terms "Urban Mobility Concept" (186,000 articles and posts), "Smart Cities" (54,000 articles and posts), and "Car-free Cities" (38,000 articles and posts) were used in the discussion. Far behind: terms like "E-Mobility" (4,000 articles and posts) or "Charging Infrastructure" (3,000 articles and posts). Automobile companies played a subordinate role in the debates about smart cities and new mobility concepts for cities and were rather subjects of the discussions than active players or even originators. The PR departments focused specifically on product topics that mainly concern their own services – for example, their own electric cars or other technologies. Thus, they missed the opportunity to steer the public discourse towards finding solutions, warn the authors.

Industry mainly addresses its own insular solutions

The companies that are visible in the urban mobility debate are mainly tech players like Google, Microsoft, Huawei, or CISCO. However, these too did not paint a picture of an urban mobility vision but presented their own individual stories and solutions, the study authors further noted. The economy mainly leaves communication sovereignty on urban mobility to independent experts, non-governmental organizations, and political decision-makers. Thus, 59 percent of all analyzed reports and social media posts cited decision-makers from politics and public administration as well as committed activists/organizations. Followed by journalists (18 percent) and scientific experts (14 percent). Only nine percent of all media quotes are attributed to spokespersons or leaders at the industry level.

London's mayor more media presence than Tesla

Alone, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appears more frequently with 1,542 mentions in the study's reports and posts than the CEOs of Tesla (800 articles and posts), Volkswagen (137 articles and posts), GM (94 articles and posts), Mercedes-Benz (83 articles and posts), and Ford (21 articles and posts) combined.

"Consumers are increasingly demanding a clear stance from the industry on relevant future topics. Companies that manage to listen sensitively in this complex environment and draw the right conclusions, also in terms of communication, will become aware of emerging socially relevant topics and can subsequently take on the role of communication leadership competently and authentically. Automobile companies that want to fully exploit this potential should, however, in the future, not limit their communication to short-term technical solutions but have the courage to adopt more long-term visions that do not just focus on their own products," concludes UNICEPTA-CEO Jochen Freese.