Mega trends like growing urbanization and changing mobility trends have triggered interest in both existing car owners and new buyers. As the place of business becomes concentrated around inner city centers, private car owners feel the pinch of escalating fuel prices, rising parking charges and negative subsidies in form of tolls and congestion charges. And even if they are ready to pay this all, they will still face the challenge of finding a parking space at all.
Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst, V. Shankar
Car-sharing services position themselves as offering an economical, convenient, and socially conscious alternative to car ownership (Forbes, 2014).
Zipcar, a membership-based car sharing company based in the US, is the pioneer in the car sharing industry. Zipcar expanded into new markets using strategic mergers and acquisitions to become a global leader. Introduced first in Europe and later in North America, carsharing has demonstrated a rapid growth in the first years. However, according to MarketLine, in North America and European carsharing markets, the CAGR dropped from 64.0% and 26.0% respectively, in the 2006-2008 period, to 33.0% and 12.0% respectively, between 2010 and 2012. At the same time the Asian market increased with a CAGR of 40.0% in the 2010-2012 period, having previously contracted between 2006 and 2008. The fastest growth was witnessed in 2008-2010, with a CAGR of 155.0%. On the one hand, there are the clear signs of the maturity of the American and European markets, where Zipcar is currently operating. On the other hand, emerging economies market represents significant business opportunities.
Source: Berkley, 2013
In order to expand its customer base and gain a new market share, Zipcar may put under consideration entering the Russian market as increasingly crowed urban centers in major Russian cities have caused the emergence of concerns among consumers such as personal convenience and the environment. The need to address air pollution, congestion and lack of parking, coupled with the impact of the economic recession has triggered the search for alternative transportation modes. The potential of carsharing is seen in helping to create a more diversified and sustainable transport system, providing cost savings to those who adopt it in favor of vehicle ownership.
The surveyabout the role of car in everyday life which was initiated by exchange students in fall 2013 and continued by the team in spring 2014 have unveiled some unteresting results (presented below, 100 respondents 2013/2014, Saint-Petersburg).
The results obtained are quire controversal. However the majority have stated that they need a car everyday and probably would like to try carsharing service.
Car-sharing in Russia 
