Capgemini Invent drives Ferrovial into carsharing service

Client: Ferrovial

Region: Spain

Sector: Automotive

Client Challenge: Ferrovial is considering its penetration into the Spanish carsharing sector with ZITY, a business yet to be explored by the company

Solution: Capgemini Invent supported Ferrovial with its market analysis and user profiling, estimating demand and sizing up the fleet, as well as defining a positioning strategy and backing up business plan development for the service in Madrid

Change of perspective: let’s talk about mobility

Ferrovial is a multinational business operating in the infrastructure, transportation, and city services sector through four divisions: motorways, airports, construction, and services. Within the services division, Ferrovial Servicios is the team in charge of infrastructure maintenance and conservation, as well as the urban and environmental services management. When Ferrovial decided to explore the possibility of an expansion into the carsharing market, Ferrovial Servicios was the division tasked with launching the project.

According to Alfonso Díaz del Río, head of Strategic Markets & Business Development at Ferrovial Servicios: “Ferrovial decided to penetrate the mobility market because the company is highly focused on cities. The two main issues faced by cities are the environment and mobility. We were not active on mobility issues, so we decided to enter this world. We saw that the carsharing business could fit in with our company, as it combined two factors: an evolving collaborative economy and direct user service.”

In this way, Ferrovial considered its penetration into the Spanish carsharing sector, a new territory for the company, which will require that it directly contact the end client for the first time. To better understand the challenges involved with this expansion, the company ordered a market study from Capgemini’s strategy and transformation unit, Capgemini Invent.

Business plan and study of demand

Capgemini Invent’s market study needed to cover a broad variety of topics, including an analysis of competitors in the carsharing sector and the keys to the project’s success. This meant analyzing different political, social, regulatory, and technological scenarios, as well as key components of the organizational and operative model. The study would also have to define the target fleet and design a marketing plan. Finally, Capgemini Invent evaluated the key presumptions of the business model and identified associated risks.

Throughout the design of the new carsharing business model, one of the key issues was client analysis. Target user profiles were identified, and key service components were analyzed. Meanwhile, Capgemini Invent defined the service positioning strategy for Madrid as well as the potential client base, with demand forecasts for the next few years. In addition, key areas were identified and prioritized for future service growth.

Putting ZITY into motion in Madrid

Based on the market review performed by Capgemini Invent, Ferrovial was able to create a go-to-market strategy to bring its ZITY carsharing service to Madrid, in alliance with Renault. The new business model launched in December 2017, and has grown to include 650 vehicles and 300,000 users. Over the last few months, the mobility service has avoided the emission of more than 1,600 tons of CO2, thanks to these clean energy-powered vehicles, in its more than 3 million registered rentals.

According to Alfonso Díaz del Río, “ZITY has marked a turning point for Ferrovial: it is our first real B2C business and has changed our frame of mind. Before, we were very focused on cost control. Now that we realize that what is important is the end user, we assess technology differently, as well as digital marketing and social networks. ZITY has helped us change our business perspective.”