OREANDA-NEWS. Growth in automobile sales will likely stem less from retail car sales but from fleet and car-sharing sales, said Dow Chemical president James Fitterling.

"Widespread urbanization will diminish the idea of a two-car family," Fitterling said at the IHS Annual World Petrochemical Conference in Houston, Texas today. "Car-sharing could account for up to 9pc of new vehicle sales by 2030, all at the expense of private sales."

Basic transportation needs will continue, but consumers will be less interested in buying a depreciating asset, he said.

"The potential for growth isn't going away, but the value will be somewhere else," he said.