For years, car sharing has been one of the symbols of new urban mobility: fewer private cars, more sharing, greater sustainability. Today, however, the sector is going through a slowdown in Italy as well, with reduced services and operators rethinking their business models.
Reading this scenario as a failure would be an oversimplification. Car sharing is not disappearing; it is changing its role within a mobility system that has become more complex and more mature.
A comparison with other European countries helps to better understand this transition. In cities such as Paris, Berlin or Amsterdam, car sharing continues to play a relevant role because it is embedded in an urban ecosystem strongly oriented toward reducing private car ownership, supported by efficient public transport, disincentives to car possession and planning designed for intermodality. In these contexts, shared cars tend to address specific needs or replace a second private vehicle.
The Italian context, however, is different. Our cities were not designed for shared mobility, private cars remain central to daily habits, and public transport—especially outside major urban areas—does not always offer a fully effective alternative. In this scenario, car sharing struggles to become a structural solution, particularly for those who travel daily over medium-to-long distances or in peri-urban areas.
Yet while traditional car sharing is slowing down, smart mobility is accelerating. The most significant change in recent years does not concern the vehicle itself, but how it is used and understood. Value has gradually shifted from vehicle ownership to the ability to analyse mobility patterns, driving behaviour and usage contexts.
This is where data and artificial intelligence come into play. Today, mobility can be managed through insights that make it possible to understand when, where and how people move, and to design services that are more efficient, sustainable and aligned with real needs. The focus is no longer on increasing the number of available vehicles, but on using resources more intelligently, as already happens in many advanced urban mobility models worldwide.
The future of urban mobility will not be defined by a single winning solution. Instead, it will be an integrated ecosystem in which car sharing, rental, corporate fleets, micromobility and public transport coexist and interact. In this model, car sharing does not disappear but becomes part of a broader Mobility as a Service approach, where the goal is not to provide a car, but to simplify and optimise mobility.
Artificial intelligence plays a key role in this evolution. Through predictive models and advanced analytics, it becomes possible to anticipate demand, optimise fleets, reduce operating costs and improve the user experience. In other words, fewer vehicles, but more efficient ones, embedded in a system capable of adapting to urban contexts and people’s needs.
It is this ability to read and interpret mobility that represents today’s real challenge. A shared challenge, involving both public and private stakeholders, and requiring tools, skills and vision to support the ongoing transformation. Because the future of mobility is not about a single solution, but about an intelligent system in which every actor can find their place and create value.