Free manifesto · 35 pages · PDF
Save Mobility, Not the Car
A European Mobility Manifesto
By Alexander Klose · Published 14 September 2026
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Executive summary
Europe built an industry around the private car and became exceptionally good at it. Electrification, Chinese competition and autonomous driving now challenge the product, the factory and the business model at the same time.
The car gave millions of people individual mobility. Europe should protect that freedom while allowing the machine, its ownership and the industry around it to change. Defending the present car as an end in itself will make the transition slower, dearer and less European.
Key arguments
- The automobile won because an entire system grew around it, not because the vehicle alone was superior.
- Europe later mistook mastery of that system for a permanent advantage.
- China's scale, supplier learning, battery economics and development speed cannot be reversed by postponing European targets.
- Electric and autonomous vehicles reopen choices the industry treated as settled - including ownership, retail and the number of cars needed.
- Europe's engineers, suppliers and factories keep their value only if they are put to work on the transition.
Who it is for
Informed readers who follow the car industry, work around it or care about industrial policy: automotive executives, suppliers, distributors, fleet and mobility operators, investors and policymakers.
Contents
Foreword
- Ride the Wave
Part One - When Nobody Knew What a Car Was
- Opening: Reutlingen
- 1. Mobility Changed the World
- 2. How One Solution Won
- 3. The Industry Learns Through Crisis
Part Two - When Europe Became Certain What a Car Was
- 4. Europe Fell in Love With Its Product
- 5. China Changes the Question
- 6. The Price of Perfection
Part Three - When Nobody Knows What a Car Is Again
- 7. When the Hardware Becomes Good Enough
- 8. When Nobody Drives
- 9. Three Autonomous Futures
- 10. Fewer Cars, More Mobility
- 11. The Missing Middle
- 12. Europe After the Car
Conclusion
- Save Mobility, Not the Car
About the author
Alexander Klose joined Ford's Premier Automotive Group in 1999, became its Asia-Pacific president in 2004 and CEO of Volvo Cars China in 2007. In 2018 he joined Aiways to lead its business outside China. He now leads EuroEV and KM Electron, advising on vehicle sourcing, China-to-Europe market entry and European EV distribution.
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