A New Alternative to Vehicle Ownership If you want a stress-free experience the next time you pick out a new vehicle, consider a car subscription, now offered by several major manufacturers and third-party companies. These services cost a little more than a regular lease or monthly financing payment, but the perks are worth considering. Some brands include maintenance and insurance, and others say it’s hassle-free to swap out your current car for a different one. We took a look at manufacturer-sponsored programs, as well as some third-party providers. While the manufacturers’ own programs work kind of like a fancy lease, most third-party subscriptions work more like a car-sharing service, su

A Middle Eastern taxi app has signed up almost 1,000 Saudi women for training in anticipation of the ban on women driving being lifted later this year. The new drivers have been hired by Careem, a UAE-based ride hailing company with millions of users in neighbouring Saudi Arabia. “We are very excited about this June, it is a big milestone for the country. We have already started training female [drivers] and we hope to get up to 100,000 on board within a year,” co-founder Magnus Olsson said in an interview with Thomson Reuters’ Zawya last week. “We foresee very strong growth in Saudi Arabia.” Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, at the behest of his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has issued

The year 2018 is going to be amazing, especially for the automotive industry since it is bringing some new trends we all have been excited … The year 2018 is going to be amazing, especially for the automotive industry since it is bringing some new trends we all have been excited to hear about. Over the past few years, the automotive industry surely has made huge leaps. We are living in the times where anything is possible. Big automotive dealers like BMW are already on the outlook of exploring the origins, attitude, and meaning of luxury in 2018 to provide customers with such vehicles that are the ultimate display of luxury. Before you look the best car lease deals,catching up with the autom

Russian internet search engine Yandex has launched its car sharing service, Yandex.Drive, offering on-demand access to a fleet of 750 vehicles through a mobile application. Currently, users can drive a Kia Rio, a Kia Rio X-Line or a Renault Kaptur from the Yandex.Drive fleet in Moscow and the surrounding region for RUB 5 per minute. Yandex.Drive users can access the application to locate and reserve a vehicle, follow directions to the car, and remotely start the reserved vehicle while walking to it. Every Yandex.Drive car comes fully loaded with a voice-activated in-car infotainment system, Yandex.Auto, which integrates Yandex’s mapping, navigation, and music streaming services for enhanced

Hungarian startup BeeRides has partnered with German investor innogy Innovation Hub to expand its airport car sharing service. After Budapest and Dortmund, the next target is Düsseldorf, according to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal. When people travel abroad and park at airports, the majority of their cars sit unused for several days. Travelers spend HUF 2 billion a year on parking in the vicinity of Budapestʼs Ferenc Liszt International Airport, while many tourists coming to Budapest are looking for a mobility solution. BeeRides offers car owners the opportunity to share their car and make money, according to the press release. BeeRides offers a fully automated system,

Robert Bosch is joining the wave of suppliers shifting their organizational structures to brace for massive industry changes. At its ConnectedWorld conference in Berlin on Wednesday, the company said it was establishing a separate division named Connected Mobility Solutions, dedicated to new transportation technologies. The 600-employee global team will help Bosch capitalize on trends such as ride-hailing and car-sharing services, and includes the acquisition of carpooling startup SPLT, or Splitting Fares Inc. Bosch's new division follows efforts from other suppliers to maintain their foothold in the industry as autonomous driving and connected services hit the market. In April 2017, BorgWar

Europcar Group (Paris:EUCAR), a major player in mobility markets, announces the launch of its Drive & Share solution in Germany and Denmark together with SnappCar, the second-largest international peer-to-peer car sharing player in Europe, in which Europcar Group is a significant investor. After a first successful pilot phase in France, Drive & Share solution is launched in Germany and Denmark. Drive & Share is dedicated to people who want to enjoy the flexibility of owning a car but who don’t need to use it often. With Drive & Share, customers have access to a long term car rental to answer their mobility needs and which they can share on SnappCar platform with all the members when they don

Maven CEO and vice-president, General Motors Urban Mobility. The major appeal of living in a metropolitan city is that everything is close. Your bagel shop is on one corner, your barber on the other and your grocer is on the next block. Proximity to amenities – along with a large number job opportunities, unique culture and a close network of friends – is why people flock to major cities across the globe. What happens when that influx of people makes everything too close for comfort? Streets and sidewalks become crowded, rents skyrocket and emissions rise, and eventually the appeal starts to fade. As one of the fastest-growing tech markets in North America that is attracting investment and t

The Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority is one of two Chattanooga-based entities to receive accolades in this year’s Smart 50 Awards, which recognize smart cities projects from around the world. CARTA received its Smart 50 Award for its innovative electric vehicle charging and car share project. The Smart 50 Awards are a partnership of Smart Cities Connect, Smart Cities Connect Foundation, and US Ignite to honor the most innovative and influential work in this arena. CARTA, as the public transportation agency and leader in electric vehicle deployment, developed the Solar Assisted Electric Vehicle Charging and Car Share Project in partnership with TVA, Green Commuter, Prova Gro

SEAT has taken over the Spanish startup Respiro, a pioneering company in renting cars by the hour in the city of Madrid. With this acquisition, which is the first time SEAT has entered the carsharing market, the brand is making progress in becoming a benchmark mobility solutions provider. All of this through a proven business model which will also give the company its own solution in this alternative transport segment. In addition, with this move SEAT positions itself as the Volkswagen Group’s mobility services benchmark in southern Europe. After signing the purchase agreement, SEAT President Luca de Meo pointed out that “Respiro is a project based on a business model with potential for the

HyreCar allows people to rent out their idle vehicles to people who want to drive for companies such as Lyft or Postmates. Image courtesy of HyreCar. HyreCar, a peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace that connects vehicle owners with potential drivers, is expanding its short-term vehicle rentals, including TLC-plated cars, to drivers in New York state. Combining the on-demand and carsharing economies, HyreCar allows those who own vehicles to rent them out when not in use. People who want to drive for ride-hailing companies like Uber or Lyft or delivery services such as Postmates can then rent a vehicle through HyreCar's platform by the day, week, or month. “We’re excited about opening our marke

Buying a new car is a long-term financial commitment and a bad investment. The value drops as soon as you drive it off the lot. You use it only part of the time and may pay to park when its idle. You're required by law to buy auto insurance and pay for registration no matter how much or little you drive. But knowing this, most Americans still want to own their own car, no matter the cost. The car industry, after all, recently posted record sales, and at a time when people have more mobility options than ever. But while ride-sharing services like Uber and car-sharing services like Zipcar provide relatively affordable short-term transportation alternatives, they don't offer the convenience of

Car sharing is hot right now. In fact, the car sharing business is so hot that many car manufacturers are afraid that the traditional model of car ownership is about to collapse. Car sharing is a relatively new development in the U.S. As a matter of fact, most domestic car share companies claim a history of a decade or less. Nonetheless, it is quickly gaining popularity with the younger crowd. Between 2010 and 2015, the total annual revenue for car sharing businesses doubled. Before 2024, experts believe it could increase another 34 percent to $16.5 billion. It’s safe to say that now’s a good time to get into the business of car sharing. Fortunately, running a car sharing company isn’t much

Platform for new energy vehicles to also offer finance and insurance services BEIJING -- Chinese ride-hailing startup Didi Chuxing announced Wednesday a tie-up with major automakers from home and abroad to start a car-sharing app using new energy vehicles, including electric cars. Didi said it has entered into an agreement with 12 automakers, including Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi and South Korea's Kia Motors. Apart from the two foreign players, 10 local companies -- BAIC BJEV, BYD, Changan Automobile Group, Chery Automobile Group, Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle, First Auto Works, Geely Auto, Hawtai Motor, JAC Motor, and Zotye Auto -- also joined the partnership. Didi said it "hopes to leverage on

A new model of car-sharing is poised to make its debut in Chicago. So-called “free-floating” car-sharing is currently outlawed, but city officials are considering a pilot program that would make it legal in a majority of the city. Some aldermen, however, are sounding the alarm about how it may impact street parking, something that is at a premium in many city neighborhoods. City leaders are briefing some skeptical aldermen on the proposal Tuesday and have been developing the plan over several weeks. Car-sharing allows a driver who doesn’t own a car to go to a specific location and rent one, run errands and then return the car. Free-floating car-sharing takes the model a step further: the dri

Rent Centric is pleased to announce and support the launch of ZipCar car-sharing in Costa Rica. The launch of ZipCar in Costa Rica is ZipCar’s first entry into the Latin American market. The expansion into Costa Rica will provide greater access to vehicles and mobility throughout the country without the cost and hassles traditionally associated with vehicle ownership. ZipCar Costa Rica has launched with twenty vehicles, which are now available for reservation by the hour or daily through accessible locations in San Jose, Heredia and Alajuela. The vehicles are clearly marked and designated and can be reserved in just a few moments through the ZipCar app, which has been built carefully by Rent

The billions of dollars betting on ride-hailing and car-sharing companies will shape the future of transportation. The shift in technology that has drawn billions of dollars into autonomous driving has also spurred investors to pile into businesses that specialize in sharing cars, summoning rides, and even borrowing bikes. Taken together, this new model for the mobility-as-a-service business continues to grow at a startling pace and move into new markets. The growth comes even as companies navigate tighter regulations. In the past four months, a new report released Thursday by Bloomberg New Energy Finance found, 11 jurisdictions in Europe, the U.S., Australia and elsewhere implemented restri

BMW’s Financial Services USA branch announced today that customers in three states will get access to a new kind of lease starting this month. The … BMW’s Financial Services USA branch announced today that customers in three states will get access to a new kind of lease starting this month. The so-called Car & Ride Sharing Lease will be available to customers in Washington, California and Oregon, and will allow you to rent out your car when you’re not using it for apps like Turo, for example, or drive for ride sharing companies, like Uber or Lyft on the other hand, to make some extra money. The terms and conditions as well as the prices for this kind of lease will depend on the car and plan