Minds Study: Barriers to Corporate Carsharing in 2026

Methodology

A representative simulation by the Target Audience Simulation Platform Minds shows that 72 percent of German fleet managers view the administrative overhead of self-booking pool vehicles as the main barrier to corporate carsharing. These results were benchmarked against real data from the Statistisches Bundesamt and show a validity of up to 95 percent compared to traditional panels.

This study is based on the innovative Target Audience Simulation Platform Minds, a highly specialized research infrastructure for B2C and B2B2C target audience simulations. Unlike conventional, generic chatbots, Minds works with a scientifically grounded three-stage model that enables precise mapping of real market segments.

In the first step, data anchoring (Level 01), the simulation models are calibrated with real data sources such as CRM systems, internal surveys, or traditional market studies. This ensures that no persona is based on pure assumptions. In the second step, the simulation model (Level 02), the platform draws on deep consumer insights, demographic anchoring, and robust behavioral models. In the third step, validation (Level 03), the simulation results are continuously benchmarked against real panel data and established reference standards. These include data from Kantar, the US Census Bureau, Eurostat, and the Statistisches Bundesamt.

Simulations on Minds allow scaling up to 10,000+ responses per run. The average alignment with physical, traditional panels remains stable between 85 and 95 percent. For specific questions and well-anchored segments, the alignment can even reach up to 100 percent. However, Minds is explicitly not designed for clinical or regulatory studies, representative price-point elasticity analyses, or political polling.

The entire infrastructure of Minds is hosted on servers within the European Union and is 100 percent GDPR-compliant, as no personal data of real survey participants is processed. The delivery of deep, qualitative and quantitative insights takes less than an hour, drastically reducing the time required compared to traditional market research sprints lasting several weeks. The costs are only a fraction of a traditional panel, as the time-consuming and expensive recruitment of physical participants is eliminated.

The Shift in German Fleet Management: From Leasing to Shared Pools

The German company car market is undergoing a profound transformation. According to recent data from the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, around 66 percent of all new registrations in Germany in 2025 were attributed to commercial owners. The company car thus remains a key tool for employee recruitment and retention, especially in a market environment shaped by skilled labor shortages. At the same time, however, pressure is mounting on companies to decarbonize their fleets and optimize costs.

The results of the BBM Mobility Survey 2025, conducted by Dataforce on behalf of the Bundesverband Betriebliche Mobilität, highlight this dynamic. Although the passenger car remains the most widely used mode of transport for commuting and business trips at nearly 70 percent, demand for more flexible and sustainable alternatives is rising noticeably. For instance, the Arval Mobility Observatory 2025 shows that 36 percent of German companies have already introduced a mobility budget or consider it one of the most important alternatives to the traditional company car.

In this tense environment, the concept of corporate carsharing is gaining massive traction. Instead of providing every eligible employee with a dedicated leased vehicle, more and more fleet managers are turning to automated, shared pool vehicles. This transition promises significantly higher vehicle utilization, a reduction in total costs, and faster fleet electrification. However, practical implementation faces considerable resistance in many companies, primarily in the areas of administration and user adoption.

The Barrier of Self-Booking: Employee Self-Booking Friction

The biggest barrier to introducing corporate carsharing is not the physical availability of the vehicles, but what is known as employee self-booking friction. If the vehicle reservation process is more complicated for employees than booking a taxi or using a private car, adoption of the entire system collapses.

The Minds simulation clearly shows that fleet managers rate the user-friendliness of the software used as a critical success factor. Many traditional systems require manual approval processes by the fleet manager or suffer from media disruptions that interrupt the booking flow. However, a seamless self-booking experience is essential to actually reduce the administrative burden in fleet management.

If employees have to go through tedious approval loops before every trip, it leads to frustration. The simulation highlights that 64 percent of respondents fear a lack of user adoption if the software is not intuitive to use. Mobility providers must therefore deliver solutions that enable instant, automated booking via an app, without requiring manual administrative intervention in the background.

Administrative Overhead: The Fleet Manager's Perspective

In addition to pure booking friction, administrative overhead represents the greatest barrier for fleet managers themselves. Managing a shared fleet brings complex legal and organizational obligations that are often outsourced to the individual driver in the traditional company car model.

Among the most time-consuming tasks in fleet management are regular driver license checks and key handovers. In the traditional model, driver license checks are usually carried out manually on a semi-annual or annual basis. However, with pool vehicles changing hands daily, many fleet managers demand automated, digital verification before every trip to eliminate liability risks for the company.

Physical key handovers also frequently prove to be a bottleneck in practice. Without keyless access technologies (keyless entry via app) or smart, electronic key cabinets, keys must be picked up and returned manually at the fleet office. This severely limits employees' scheduling flexibility and ties up valuable resources in the admin team. The Dataforce 100+ Car Study 2026 confirms that digitization and avoiding media disruptions are among the most pressing challenges for large fleets. Although 71 percent of large passenger car fleets already use dedicated software, the integration of carsharing modules into existing ERP and HR systems is often poorly resolved.

Damage Claims and Liability: Unresolved Pain Points

Another critical point discussed intensively in the Minds simulation is the recording and processing of vehicle damage. With a dedicated company car, attributing dents or scratches is straightforward. With a pool vehicle used by multiple employees a day, responsibilities blur.

Without seamless, digital damage documentation before and after every trip, the fleet manager is left in the dark about who caused a scratch or dent. This not only leads to internal conflicts but also complicates claims processing with insurance and leasing companies. The simulation shows that fleet managers prefer systems that require the driver to briefly confirm the car's condition via the app upon unlocking it and report any new damage directly with a photo.

These detailed insights into the target audience's concerns and objections highlight the invaluable benefit of Minds. While traditional market studies often only map general trends, the simulation enables precise mapping of specific objections and functional requirements before expensive field trials are even launched.

Strategic Implications for Mobility Providers

For providers of corporate carsharing software and mobility services, the simulation results yield clear strategic recommendations for marketing and sales in the BOFU (bottom of the funnel) phase:

First, sales arguments must shift away from purely ecological or general cost benefits toward concrete administrative relief. Claims like Fully automated driver license checks in under 10 seconds or Keyless access without hardware retrofitting address decision-makers' actual pain points far more effectively.

Second, seamless integration into existing HR and ERP systems (such as SAP or Microsoft Azure AD for single sign-on) should be actively promoted. Reducing media disruptions is the decisive criterion in software selection for 72 percent of fleet managers.

Third, providers must integrate transparent and legally compliant processes for damage claims and owner liability into their platforms by default. A digital handover protocol anchored directly in the booking app relieves fleet managers of worries regarding unclear liability.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Transforming corporate fleets toward shared mobility concepts is inevitable to meet CO2 targets and reduce costs. However, success stands and falls with eliminating booking friction and administrative overhead. With the Target Audience Simulation Platform Minds, mobility providers can analyze the specific objections of German fleet managers in record time and perfectly align their product and sales strategies.

To learn how you can use the Minds simulation for your own target audience analysis, visit the pricing page on getminds.ai and start your tailored pilot today: View pricing on getminds.ai.