THE TRANSITION BEYOND THE VEHICLE

A mobility transition can change far more than the vehicles on the road. It can reshape where technologies are developed, where industrial capabilities emerge and which economies help build the next generation of mobility.

Europe’s buses offer a useful starting point. New bus registrations in the European Union rose 22.7% in the first half of 2026, to 22,590, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). Electrically chargeable buses grew faster still, up 56.8%, lifting their share from 21.6% to 27.7%, though diesel still took 58.2%. In the city segment the picture is starker: the International Council on Clean Transportation found that battery-electric models accounted for more than 60% of new city bus registrations in the second quarter.

Yet the significance reaches well beyond Europe’s transport networks. Across the world, the shift towards cleaner mobility is opening up possibilities for new manufacturing capability, stronger supply chains and wider participation in the global mobility ecosystem. The opportunity is not simply to replace one generation of vehicles with another. It is to expand the industrial capabilities that make the next generation possible.

The challenge differs by market. Established automotive economies must sustain innovation, competitiveness and technical expertise. Emerging manufacturing economies have a chance to move further into component production, battery technologies, power electronics, software, engineering services and advanced manufacturing.

Realising that potential will take investment, skills development, reliable infrastructure, technology partnerships and access to global markets. Progress will not be automatic, and opportunities will differ from country to country. But economies that have traditionally taken part in established supply chains could develop new capabilities and become more influential contributors to future mobility.

Global manufacturers have a stake too. Partnerships that combine established expertise with emerging industrial capability can broaden innovation, diversify supply chains and open new markets. The transition need not be a contest between regions. It can be a process through which the global mobility ecosystem grows stronger and more diverse.

The measure of success, then, should reach beyond the number of cleaner vehicles deployed. It should include the technologies developed, capabilities created, skills strengthened and economic opportunities opened across the world.

A Thought Across Time

On 20 January 1945, with the Second World War still being fought, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt used his Fourth Inaugural Address to tell Americans:
“We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations far away.”

Decades later, the principle still applies to mobility. The shift towards cleaner transport creates an opening to widen industrial participation, enabling emerging manufacturing economies to develop new capabilities and contribute to shared global progress.

The next chapter of mobility should be judged not merely by how far technology advances, but by how widely the capacity to shape that advance is shared.

Cleaner mobility can change the vehicles we build. Its greater promise lies in expanding who can help build the future.