August - 2017

Uber Chooses Expedia’s Chief as C.E.O., Ending Contentious Search

SAN FRANCISCO — Uber chose Dara Khosrowshahi, who leads the online travel company Expedia, to be its chief executive on Sunday, two people with knowledge of the decision said. The selection capped a contentious search process as the ride-hailing company seeks to move past a turbulent period. Mr. Khosrowshahi emerged as the leading candidate from a field of three finalists over a weekend of Uber board meetings, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because t

Toyota To Team Up With Dealerships And Distributors To Launch A Car Sharing Service

Toyota is expanding its presence in the car sharing arena by announcing a new partnership with its Hawaiian distributor Servco Pacific. Under the terms of the deal, the two companies will test and develop a car sharing service in Honolulu. During the initial testing phase, the service will be limited to employees. However, once testing is complete, Servco plans to launch a consumer-focused car sharing business by the end of 2017. According to Toyota, users will download

Hagerty Launches DriveShare for Classic Car Rentals

Collectible vehicle insurer Hagerty has acquired the Classics&Exotics peer-to-peer online vehicle sharing service, more or less an Airbnb for classic and exotic cars, and is relaunching it as DriveShare by Hagerty. It’s bit more complicated than the typical car rental arrangement – customers must be at least 30 years old and have their driving history vetted and approved before participating, and both a $500 security deposit and a nominal service charge are required with each

Sixt CEO hints at car-sharing merger talks between BMW and Daimler

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German carmakers Daimler (DAIGn.DE) and BMW (BMWG.DE) may be in talks to combine their car-sharing services Car2Go and DriveNow, the chief executive of car rental company and DriveNow partner Sixt (SIXG.DE) hinted on Thursday. Daimler and BMW have discussed pooling their car-sharing businesses to better compete against ride-hailing companies like Uber [UBER.UL] and Lyft which have started offering pay-per-use mobility services which are more convenient t

City Will Test Dedicated Street Parking For Carshare Companies This Fall In Brooklyn

Will a City supported carshare program help reduce car ownership in Brooklyn? The NYC Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) intends to find out with a two-year pilot program launching this Fall. While the agency will not run a carshare service, it will designate parking spaces on-street and in municipal parking facilities to carshare companies participating in the pilot. NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg announced at the end of 2016 the launch of a two-year citywide pil

101-year-old car rental business nearing twilight in Uber age

“The transportation business is evolving,” said Neil Abrams, president of Abrams Consulting Group, which does advisory work for the rental car industry. “The companies that stand still are left in the dust.” At the dawn of America’s automobile age, a Nebraskan by the name of Joe Saunders came up with a wild idea: He’d rent his Ford Model T to traveling salesmen. Today, 101 years later, his figurative heirs — Saunders later sold out to a Chicagoan named Hertz — confront an exi

Maven Gig - Coming soon to LA, Boston, Detroit, DC, and Phoenix

GM expands its car sharing service for Uber and Lyft drivers Maven Gig, the car-sharing service for gig economy workers owned by General Motors, is expanding to a few more cities. Starting today, the service is available in Los Angeles. Later this fall, it will launch in Boston, Phoenix, and Washington, DC. And Baltimore and Detroit will follow soon after. The program is aimed at drivers for rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, and delivery apps like Postmates, GrubHub, and Ins

Kia Motors advances into car sharing business with WiBLE brand

South Korea’s second-largest automaker Kia Motors Corp. said on Tuesday that it will launch a car sharing service later this week under the new mobility service brand WiBLE. The automaker’s move comes as part of efforts to ride on the bourgeoning car-sharing business and demand in Korea. According to Kia Motors, the company’s trial car sharing service will be offered to residents living in the second complex of Cheonwang Yeonji Town in Guro, western Seoul. It will place 9 v

Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Capital to introduce CarShare service next month

Hyundai Motor Co. and Hyundai Capital Services Inc. will jointly launch a car sharing service next month, allowing people to rent and pick up a car for a short-distance ride in Seoul and around the capital. An unnamed Hyundai Capital official said on Sunday the car sharing service ‘Deal Car’ is in the final stage of launching the service.. The Hyundai-owned car sharing service is similar to startup competitors like Socar and Green Car. But the service by the conglomerate

car2go enjoying success, growth in North America

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 7, 2017 /CNW/ -- car2go N.A., North America's largest flexible one-way carsharing service, saw a significant increase in use of its service during the first six months of 2017. Usage of car2go increased by 40 percent year-over-year in the first half of 2017 compared to the first half of 2016 across all 11 of the service's North American locations, with more than 4.5 million trips taken so far this year. car2go members have also spent 33 percent more time t