RIVERSIMPLE: a new business model in the car industry

The Riversimple Urban Car has been developed over the last three years in a co-operative research programme with several British Universities but also several specialized companies and professionals such as Porsche’s grand grand son’s Sebastian Piech. In order to achieve this, Riversimple had to reinvent the whole business model starting with a functional economy approach. The cars are built to be leased and not sold.

Also, Riversimple has horizontal governance. In this structure each stakeholder group has an equal stake. The company is answerable to six custodians who represent each of their stakeholders and hold the voting shares: customers, investors, the environment, the community, the staff and other commercial partners. The six Custodians appoint five members of the board of directors, and agree on the strategy. 

This equal voting structure means that no single interest can dominate the company to the detriment of another. 

Because of this new model, Riversimple did not have to adapt his work tools to new technologies but was able, from the start, to align their interest with those of the society and the environment.

Riversimple also has an open-source approach, which means entrepreneurs around the world can download the designs and manufacture the prototype car locally for free.