Israeli Auto Importer Sees More Cars on Roads Despite Sharing Economy

In the future, we will transition from a model of car ownership to a shared car economy, according to Dani Shavit, CEO of Israeli car import company David Lubinski Ltd. (also known as Lubinski Group). Speaking at a Calcalist conference in Tel Aviv on Monday, Mr. Shavit expected the number of cars in the world to nearly double by 2050.

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“Since the invention of cars in the late 19th Century, the population of the world has quadrupled. Car ownership had a much steeper growth rate,” Mr. Shavit said. “Today there are 155 cars for every 1000 people. In 2050, it will be 300 cars per 1000 people,” he said.

The auto industry has undergone many changes, but it remains essentially the same as it was a century ago, Mr. Shavit said. "The driver’s seat may look like a cockpit now, but we are still buying cars and driving cars the same way we used to. All of this is going to change,” he said.

Mr. Shavit said that fully autonomous cars, controlled by cloud technology, are expected to become available by 2030. By then, he said, the steering wheel will no longer be necessary.

Mr. Shavit said that the other major revolution in car technology is electric cars, which is being led by China. “Today, 2% of vehicles in China are electric, and China’s goal is to have all cars run on electricity by 2030,” Mr. Shavit said. “Today there are two million electric cars worldwide. In 2025, one of six vehicles would be electric,” Mr. Shavit said.