Turo , formerly RelayRides , is a company that operates a peer-to-peer share-sharing market. This allows private car owners to rent their vehicles through online and mobile interfaces. By 2017, there are about four million users and 170,000 privately owned cars in the app. The company is based in San Francisco. From 2013 to 2014, RelayRides is the subject of an investigation in New York for violations of the state vehicle insurance law resulting in a $ 200,000 fine. Forbes puts it among the 14 "hottest start-up on demand" in 2015.
Video Turo (car rental)
Histori
Shelby Clark founded RelayRides in 2009, along with Harvard Business School classmates, Nabeel Al-Kady and Tara Reeves. The peer-to-peer carsharing concept is inspired by similar online markets like Airbnb and eBay. Deciding to utilize an unused vehicle as a resource, Clark proposed a model "for society, by society".
The service was first launched in Boston in June 2010. In late 2010, the service was extended to San Francisco, where it is now headquartered, and in March 2012 nationally launched in the US.
In 2012, Turo partnered with major automaker General Motors and their OnStar division to help tenants unlock GM cars with their phones. However, in September 2013, RelayRides announced that it will stop their Onstar technology integration to strategically focus on their fastest growing business section, long-term car rentals.
In May 2013, the New York State Department of Financial Services issued a consumer warning, warning that RelayRides incorrectly described the insurance coverage for its program users, and a stop-and-break letter that ordered RelayRides to cease operations in New York. RelayRides suspended operations in the state and was eventually fined $ 200,000 for fake advertising, unauthorized insurance activity, and other violations. New York is now the only US state where Turo is unavailable.
Although the company initially focused on short-term car rental, hourly car rental, over time, the majority of its growth was driven by longer tenor rentals of 1 day or more. In 2013, RelayRides acquired Wheelz, one of its competitors, and discontinued support for hourly pricing from car rentals, shifting its focus to rentals for long durations. The average lease for the company is now more than five days. It began targeting travelers while driving the option to search by airport in 2013 and launching shipping options by 2014 (car owners driving it to pick-up point).
From 2010 to 2014, RelayRides received $ 52.5 million in funding from Canaan Partners, August Capital, Google Ventures, Shasta Ventures and Trinity Ventures.
In November 2015, RelayRides renamed Turo; the company claims this is to reflect the company's shift from short-term travel and accumulate another $ 47 million in Series C funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Forbes puts it among the 14 "hottest start-up on demand" in 2015, with an assessment of $ 311 million. The company announced it will expand into Canada by 2016. USA Today also lists it among "the best travel technologies", and it has also been listed as "the best travel app."
International expansion
Turo's first expansion outside the United States was in April 2016, when it was launched in three Canadian provinces: Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. The Canadian version is limited to areas where Canadian insurance partner Turo, Intact Financial, operates. A year after its introduction into the Canadian market, the app has 130,000 users and 2,800 registered cars. This was followed by a release in the UK in December 2016 aimed at car rentals from small businesses, rather than individual car owners. According to Business Insider, many peer-to-peer businesses, including Turo, have been more business-focused. Canada province, British Columbia, added in 2017.
In September 2017, Turo announced a $ 92 million D funding series led by Daimler AG, Liberty Mutual, and others. Turo also purchased a German-based car sharing service, Croove, as part of the deal. Turo was officially launched in Germany in January 2018.
Maps Turo (car rental)
Services
On the website and its apps for iOS and Android, Turo offers over 800 brand and vehicle models. Owners offer their cars, sometimes including shipments in more than 5,000 cities across the US, Canada, Germany and the UK.
Unlike traditional car rental services, Turo does not own a vehicle or maintain it. Instead, they offer a platform for car owners and renters to connect, thus reducing rental costs compared to traditional car rental services.
People who want to generate revenue from their cars while they are not used can register cars online for hire by other Turo members. The car owner declares the time and place where the car will be available. A traveler who wants to rent a car reserves a certain time slot for cars online and pays for the amount of time they register. Car owners can set their own prices or use Turo's dynamic price suggestions, and the company takes 25%. Travelers pay an average of 35 percent less than traditional leasing companies.
Through the Liberty Mutual American Turo insurance partner, Turo's service includes vehicles up to $ 1 million from liability insurance to protect car owners against lawsuits for property injury and damages. Registered cars must be 2006 or later with an odometer reading below 130,000 miles, with some exceptions. All Turo users are screened for trust and security purposes.
See also
- Alternative to car use
- Car rental
- Car Sharing
- Carpooling
- Momo car-sharing European demonstration project about carsharing
- easyCar Club - Company offering similar services in the UK
- Drivezy - Car Sharing Platform in India
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments