The number of car sharing stations in Germany has been increasing during recent years. In 2020, there were 6,150 stations, compared to 2.2 thousand in 2010. The same year, car sharing companies provided a total of 25.4 thousand vehicles for their customers. Rising demand may be due to various circumstances. Using car sharing services rather than buying a car could be connected to financial reasons, whether for a certain time or long-term, as well as wishing to use means of transport sustainably by not contributing to vehicle numbers. In larger cities, people may need a car only occasionally and otherwise get around with public transport.
Surveys indicate that the number of people who use or are interested in car sharing in Germany is rising. Registered car sharing user numbers have exploded in Germany in recent years, from over one million in 2015 to 2.3 million in 2020. Of course, consumers have various reasons for deciding against car sharing. These differed somewhat depending on new or used car buyers. Half of surveyed new car buyers did not want to share their car with other users. 39 percent also considered car sharing to be too much effort.
