There are more than 250 million vehicles on US highways today , but that number could drop extremely quickly if these researchers are correct about the growth of car sharing . According to researchers at TrendForce , the global car - sharing market is expected to reach 15 million vehicles and include 260,000 vehicles by next year . This may not seem like much , however each shared vehicle can replace from 9 to 13 private vehicles , according to the report . The researchers also estimate that car sharing will be able to replace some 2.43 to 3.38 million private vehicles globally by 2016 . By 2016, the global car sharing market is expected to exceed 15 million members with over 260,000 vehicles in service, according to Topology Research Institute (TRI), a division of TrendForce. Related research in the US at the University of Michigan ’s Transportation Research Institute reported earlier this year that self - driving cars could cut the need for vehicles by as much as 43 % in the US , clearly not good news for automakers .
There are more than 250 million vehicles on US highways today , but that number could drop extremely quickly if these researchers are correct about the growth of car sharing . According to researchers at TrendForce , the global car - sharing market is expected to reach 15 million vehicles and include 260,000 vehicles by next year . This may not seem like much , however each shared vehicle can replace from 9 to 13 private vehicles , according to the report . The researchers also estimate that car sharing will be able to replace some 2.43 to 3.38 million private vehicles globally by 2016 . Related research in the US at the University of Michigan ’s Transportation Research Institute reported earlier this year that self - driving cars could cut the need for vehicles by as much as 43 % in the US , clearly not good news for automakers .