As the automotive industry continues to experience rapid change, one company is offering American and Canadian dealers a potential solution — at least, where car-sharing is concerned.
Turo, formerly known as RelayRides, is a peer-to-peer car-sharing company based in California with representatives in the U.S., Canada, Germany and the U.K. Its goal is to make car ownership more affordable for people by sharing vehicles with others, according to Cédric Mathieu, Managing Director of Turo Canada.
“Turo is about making sure that the 95 per cent of the time you don’t use your car, someone else can use it and you will be able to generate $500, $600, $700 a month by sharing it with someone else — and most of the time that will cover your financing for the car,” said Mathieu in and interview with Canadian auto dealer.
For some dealers this news may not be reassuring, as car-sharing services can be seen as a threat that would steal car sales away from dealer franchises and diminish the value of the dealer. But this type of service exists because of changing consumer needs and wants, and there may be an opportunity for dealers to boost sales and ensure they remain relevant.
Based on Turo’s logic, if a consumer shares their vehicle between six and twelve days a month, they will be able to cover the cost of financing their car. And that, according to Mathieu, is something that is very interesting — even from a dealer standpoint.
“It could be a great way for dealers to sell more cars, to make sure that people can afford the car that they really want if they agree to share it with other people,” said Mathieu.
“I think it’s really about equipping dealers with the data that shows that, whatever car they want to sell, this car is going to make X dollars per month on Turo if you share it for a certain amount of days,” said Mathieu. “I think if consumers knew that when they bought the car, they might be able to make a better, smarter decision financially about what car they can really afford.”
He said if dealers were aware of this and communicated it to consumers at the point of sale, then it could influence their buying decision. A consumer that is able to drive the vehicle they are interested in — test-drive it for a few days to a week because it’s listed on the Turo platform and do so stress-free knowing it’s insured — can make a more informed decision.
Mathieu argues that after a few days to a week, the consumer will know if the car is right for them or not. He also said they have a lot of people doing exactly that on the Turo platform.
“A lot of people are worried that a vehicle is not for them, so they will rent a Tesla for a few days, bring the family and go to the cottage or whatever, and at the end of the trip they know whether the car is good for them or not,” said Mathieu. “We have a lot of people buying cars after test-driving them extensively, and I think it’s also a great hook for dealers and something we are working on with them.”
Turo is already running a number of pilot projects with auto retailers in the U.S. and Canada — and it’s something they hope to do more of in the future.
