Author Description

Every vehicle innovation represents the process of human civilization in human history. In China, private car consumption has risen due to the trend towards urbanization and the rising income brought by the booming economy since 2000. However, the Chinese people may have to face a dilemma – "the city after the automobile" –because rarely a day passes without issues, such as energy shortages and traffic jams, in China's megacities.Furthermore, the Chinese Government has realized that electric vehicles may offer a once in a lifetime chance to update the value chain in the automobile industry, due to China's opportunity to become the technology hub for e-components because of its enormous domestic market, the raw material and labor cost advantage, as well as industry police support from the Chinese Government (Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, 2009).Today, a new business model innovation – the E-Mobility Business Model, which combines electric vehicles and car sharing – is emerging in the automobile industry. Some entrepreneurial carmakers and some of their (new) key partners, such as utilities, battery makers, energy suppliers, telematics service providers, etc., are attempting to offer creative value propositions that include not only traditional products like (electric) vehicles or services like financing, but also a unique customer experience – a seamless urban green mobility concept – that emphasizes smart individual urban mobility without car ownership. With the trend for private car consumption since 2000, Chinese car owners seem youthful and dynamic. According to SINOTRUST (2011), the average age of a car owner is about 35 years. Thus, carmakers have recognized that if they continue to focus mainly on serving their urban–affluent consumers, they risk missing the real opportunity – China's young generation. Accordingly, this study defines China's young generation as the target group. Then, it attempts to profile the proposals for value to the customer from