Closures car share slide in new era | FT business
Michelle Fox sold its U S V because payments and insurance were too Now she uses sharing services like car2go credit Daniel Rosenbaum for The New York Times.
WASHINGTON As more businesses and nonprofits even get into the business to rapid growth of car sharing, they offer consumers new ways to customize their short-term rentals for convenience, reliability and cost.
Take the expansion of car2go service Daimler, the maker of luxury German car he rented just two seats Smart cars, charging customers by the minute instead of the time, and allows the rental of a road and free parking in the street.
This calls for Austin Fossey, who turned to car2go when his pregnant wife, Brooke entered the work at 2 am Thanksgiving morning he pulled the car2go app on his mobile phone and booked a small smart car parked near of the couple's home in Washington car2go was exactly what they needed a one-way drive to the hospital, to 38 cents per minute, with free parking in the streets of the city and not have to return the vehicle .
We just wanted to drop the car off and not have to worry about it, Ms. Fossey, 31, said in a recent interview that she held her newborn son, Ethan.
Car2go is one of about two dozen car-sharing services in the United States, and rentals of one-way vehicles are the latest wrinkle in the growing industry.
Vendors range from small non-profits to large companies such as Hertz, a longtime leader in the car rental industry, Daimler, car2go that began five years ago in Germany and now operates 1800 vehicles in six cities US.
New players are entering, including Avis Budget Group, another pillar in the traditional rental company, which earlier this month agreed to buy the Zipcar car-sharing company for 491 million.
They are attracted by the growing popularity of car sharing last year, about 800 000 people belonged to car-sharing services in the United States, 44 percent increase from 2011, according to Susan Shaheen, co-director sustainable Development research Center Transportation at the University of California, Berkeley.
Austin Fossey Washington turned to car2go when his wife, Brooke, went into work early the morning of Thanksgiving credit Daniel Rosenbaum for The New York Times.
With most services, customers pay a small annual fee to join, and reservations on the Web or with a smartphone application They usually unlock the car by dragging a special laminated card across a sensor on the windscreen, and rates are usually the hour.
Amid all the competition, rental providers try to differentiate.
Zipcar, for example, has long tried to present as part of a young, hip life style, calling members Zipsters and promote through a Twitter hashtag, thatswhereiroll It promotes its vast number of rental locations including many university campuses, and mixing ordinary cars and prestige of Ford Escape SUV Mini Cooper convertibles.
CarShare company which last year absorbed a competitor Zipcar called Mint, built on a strong tradition of the restaurant business enterprises while offering customers the chance to try new technologies such as Nissan's electric Leaf.
And non-profit groups add their own specialized services to industry, such as City CarShare in San Francisco in 2008 created the first vehicle carpool wheelchair accessible AccessMobile called, the program offers minivans that can accommodate two wheelchairs with three other passengers and driver Shaheen this variety was key to the growth of the industry, like going to the chocolate shop and have access to 15 different types of chocolate.
Car2go CEO Nicholas Cole, said Daimler used the latest technology to provide almost instant cars to members for the registration fee 35, car2go members can locate and reserve a blue and white Smart microcar less than 15 minutes members pay a per- minute for rental fees, and can park for free in legal parking spaces in Washington and other cities participating car2go also allows members leave the car almost anywhere in the city, it is rented .
By comparison, members Zipcar pay an hourly or daily rate which usually winds up being cheaper than the rates of car2go, they must return the rented vehicle to the same lot parking where they gathered the BMW DriveNow service in San Francisco also allows -Way rental.
Our members do not have to tell us how long they are going to drive or where they're going, as long as they bring the entire region, said Mr. Cole.
One of the big car2go outlets is free parking in Washington, for example, paid in 2890 by car2go vehicle in the District of Columbia for free use of metered spaces in some cities, including Miami, the company also rents space in parking garages.
Michelle Fox, driving a smart car car2go members pay a fee per minute for Daniel Rosenbaum credit hire for the New York Times.
New York is among the cities with the expansion study, said Katie Stafford, a spokesman car2go in New York, parking will be different in other cities, she said, but we reach an agreement that would sense to us and the city.
While some car manufacturers have entered into supply partnerships with car-sharing services, such as Ford Motor Company did with Zipcar in 2011, it is less clear why a car sharing service makes financial sense for Daimler to run directly .
Daimler, the German maker of luxury cars Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner trucks, said car2go has emerged a group of business innovation within the company who was looking to the future of transport in cities Service Daimler says has reached break even in three cities, began in Europe and now has about 275 000 members worldwide.
It's generally a tendency for people who want to pay for what they use, said Mr. Cole car2go is like success in iTunes, where people choose to buy a few songs instead of the whole album need cheap access, convenient fueling the growth of car sharing around the world, said Shaheen of the University of California, Berkeley She said that recent statistics displayed 1 7 million members in 27 carsharing countries, not counting the so-called peer-to-peer services that allow drivers to rent vehicles directly from individual car owners.
So far, large companies and small organizations coexist comfortably because of the increasing demand for car sharing in urban areas.
The arrival of companies like Daimler and Opinions on market isn t put everyone out of business, said Wilson Wood, Chief CarSharing Association, which represents 19 small suppliers, as the city CarShare.
A mobility options menu works for some consumers, like Michelle Fox, a part of 27 years of a technology company in Washington Ms. Fox recently sold his Toyota S U V due to the cost of car payments, insurance and parking.
Instead, it uses a combination of car2go, a bike sharing network and a call service Uber limousine.
Last month, Mrs. Fox used a car2go smart car to attend the birthday party of a friend in the city's busy entertainment Adams Morgan in Washington since the smart cars are less than nine feet long, simply car2go squeeze in, she said after parking in a tight space in the street, she noticed someone looking at her he turned out to be another car2go member who was looking for an available vehicle This puppy will not be there when I come back, Mrs. Fox said, laughing.
Stephanie Steinberg reported from Washington and Bill Vlasic Detroit.
A version of this article appears in the press January 26, 2013, on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline Passing reprints keys Order Paper today Subscribe.
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