This is one future imagined by Swiss mobility specialist Frank M Rinderknecht, who makes his living thinking about how people might want to move around big cities in the future.

His company, Rinspeed, is a creative think tank for the auto sector.

“Our goal is to be the premiere mobility shapers, to be the spearhead of new technology,” he says.

Frank stays in close contact with the major international tech and auto suppliers, designers, governments, and futurists, to spot trends, see what is in development and merge these with his own instincts and thoughts. Then he and his Chief Engineer, Peter Kägi and Kiwi industrial designer Alain Brideson get together in Switzerland to share ideas and design the next year’s Rinspeed concept car.

The annual Rinspeed car is shown at international auto events such as CES Las Vegas and the Geneva Auto Show, where they are closely inspected by motoring media and the curious from inside and outside the industry. Often, the technology and ideas are in production within a few years, some of them ground-breaking.

PAVING THE WAY TO THE FUTURE

Frank M Rinderknecht was the first to install touch controls on a steering wheel, back in 1985.

His 2004 amphibious car Splash set the 2006 record for crossing the British Channel (later broken by Alan Gibbs' Aquada). His first autonomous car was produced in 2007. His 2017 concept car Oasis takes autonomy, connectivity and learning to the cutting edge. Oasis also gives back by growing a small garden on the dashboard.

“Much of the different technology used on our cars over the years has found its way into mass production. This is not done by us but by our technical partners, such as Harman. In 1996 Toyota probably followed us with the touch controls on the steering wheel – that was something I invented in the 1980s. Now it is in almost every single car you buy.”

Rinspeed doesn’t always patent its own ideas, instead Frank takes any copying as a compliment. “Why should I spend money and time in court to fight over IP? I am simply focused on being original and ahead of everyone else.”

DRIVING CHANGE

Frank believes the driving force behind the move to more flexible mobility options in our big cities will come not from the car industry, but rather from the new companies that are emerging such as Tesla and Uber.

“The car industry is reactive, still attached to its old systems and has a hard time changing its mindset to chase new ideas.

He believes it’s the Tesla and Uber-type companies that will continue to initiate change.

“But I think the biggest players have yet to emerge, and they will be those companies that have millions of customers and are expert in logistics. Companies like Amazon and Alibaba in China have the market power and the business case. They can operate in a completely different way from the car makers. After all, what is the difference between moving a parcel or moving a person around? Nothing, it’s logistics. They will enter the mobility market one of these days.”

Frank believes these types of company will own or operate the cars and make them available for customers to use via apps and transport networks.

His 2017 car, Oasis, was designed partly from this perspective – autonomous, able to be used 24/7 and deliver hot or cold products, with its services booked online.

FUTURE CAR BRANDS

Frank believes cars in the future may not be made by the major brands. “Perhaps companies like Foxconn, which makes the world’s iPhone and iPads in its China plants, will be making cars for Amazon or Uber.”

Those who stay ahead of the game will be able to adapt and perhaps even profit from the changes. “There is so much money in the mobility business – even financial markets are having trouble keeping up. Tesla is not making money but has a very high value; Uber employs fewer than 1,000 people but has the same market capital as Mercedes Benz which makes two million cars a year. Things are completely different today and changing fast.”

So if you are a truck seat manufacturer, then down the road, trucks won’t need seats any more. So truck seats wont be needed. To understand and have the perception to adjust your business cases proactively, not reactively is the key. People can see where they may be in three years time, but perhaps not in six years time – much further and no clue. If I take you to a world too far away from a person then we can go beyond a person’s imagination. So we try and think about three to six years into the future.

With the Oasis, we thought it might be too far into the future. But in Detroit many people came up to us and said they could imagine this car tomorrow. We thought we'd take them on a journey but people felt it had already started. We don't want not go too far because Heaven knows what will happen!

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