Zipcar success boils down to convenience

Zipcar’s recent success in the United States—where the firm’s hourly car rental services are spreading rapidly to university campuses and major urban centers throughout the country—has much to do with the convenience that this vehicle sharing firm offers. One columnist associated with Fox’s business news site recently wrote a piece on how what is best about Zipcar’s service is that he can reserve his favourite Mini Cooper online in a matter of a few short minutes and can then walk a couple of blocks from his San Francisco home to the lot where the car is parked, swipe his card to access the vehicle and then drive off for the bargain, all-inclusive rate of $11 per hour. Additionally, when Zipcar mentions that their rates are “all-inclusive,” clients can take this absolutely literally, since even the cost of gasoline and an insurance policy are incorporated into the hourly price.

Zipcar’s CEO, Scott Griffith, observed that his car sharing firm’s success has changed the way in which many Americans view car ownership. Nearly 40 percent of Zipcar’s regular clients have either sold their personal automobile altogether, or have reconsidered the purchase of a new vehicle. A total of 180,000 Americans are now members of either Zipcar or Flexcar, two companies that merged last year to form the country’s most prominent car sharing company. If all goes according to plan, the two firms combined will make more than $100 million in revenue by the end of the year, especially as hourly car hires become more popular in both the US and in the United Kingdom.

On average, most Zipcar customers end up saving a significant amount of money by selling their personal vehicles and choosing to rent on an hourly basis, especially to run errands or attend special events several times a month. Griffith noted that most customers end up renting around three times a month and do not spend more than $100 every four weeks. Maintaining a car, paying insurance fees, license charges, filling up the tank and paying for repairs cost far more than this in the vast majority of cases.

www.zipcar.com