American carmaker Ford Motor is starting a car-sharing program that will allow Ford car owners to reduce costs by assisting them in renting out their Ford cars.
Ford recently announced the Peer-2-Peer Car Sharing program for Ford Motor Credit customers. The pilot program invites about 26,000 Ford Motor Credit customers in six different cities in the U.S. and in London to rent their Ford cars to others on a short-term basis.
The new program is mainly designed to aid customers reduce monthly car ownership costs. The Ford car-sharing program is a six-month pilot program that will be offered to 14,000 Ford customers in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Portland, Chicago and Washington. The remaining 12,000 Ford car owners will be invited in London.
The car sharing program will include Ford vehicles from the 2005 model year and should have run less than 125,000 miles.
Getaround, a San Francisco-based startup, will look at the software, which U.S. Ford car owners will have to use for renting their vehicles. Ford car owners will have to register their car with Getaround and confirm when they want to rent their vehicle and how much they will charge.
David McClelland, VP of marketing at Ford Credit, explained that Getaround will keep 40 percent of the total rent that will be used for insurance as well as administration charges. McClelland reveals that the company is also hoping to expand the program to other cities in the near term.
"Consumers tell us they are interested in sharing the costs of vehicle ownership, and this program will help us understand how much that extends to customers who are financing a Ford vehicle," said McClelland. "As most vehicles are parked and out of use much of the time, this can help us gauge our customers' desires to pick up extra cash and keep their vehicles in use."
Penn Schoen Berland, an independent research firm, reports that about 33 percent of millennials in the U.S. have no issues in renting belongings that will help in supplementing their income.
Car lending is the second only to book lending that many young Americans are interested in. About 50 percent of millennials are also open to the idea of sharing rides with others.
Photo: JD Hancock | Flickr
