General Motors' idea for an Airbnb for cars is taking "sharing is caring" to a whole new level.
Did anyone catch that Cadillac commercial recently where someone whips out their phone and chooses which car they want to drive around in that day? I assumed, "Hey, this is dope. GM now has a rental service," or something like that.
But really, this is part of GM's new ride-sharing approach, like an Airbnb for cars, to get more people to use its car brands and modernize the way we get around.
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According to Fortune, GM is bringing this idea of Airbnb for cars to life this summer, enabling car owners to rent out their vehicles when they're not using them. Someone at Zipcar has to be clenching their fists like in that Arthur meme right about now.
General Motors' Maven car-sharing unit allows car owners to put their cars on its platform for other drivers to rent out, share the revenue they get, and then drop it back off at a specific destination. Again, we feel for Zipcar here.
Changing Gears
Stocks were stable, but stagnant for a number of years for General Motors. But last fall they saw a big boost as it released plans for self-driving technology and services like Maven, gaining interest from investors in turn.
This concept isn't something new, as startups like Turo and Getaround have been spearheading this for a bit. But GM's $53 billion market value will surely help its efforts to take over this arena.
Peer-to-peer business plans like this are picking up traction as companies like Toyota are also interested in developing such tech and options. Tesla (ever heard of it?) is also batting around the idea of this kind of sharing network, but with self-driving cars instead.
Unfair Advantage
When ride-sharing in general burst on the scene five or so years ago, cities and taxi companies took offense. San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix, and others put up a fight against companies like Lyft and Uber before giving in.
The American Car Rental Association, which lobbies for companies like Hertz and Enterprise, is now claiming that this Airbnb for cars-type sharing service will take a dent out of their sales and customer base because of tax loopholes.
How comfortable are you with this idea? Would you be in on letting someone drive your car around town?
NEXT: Volkswagen Debuts Moia, Its New Car Sharing Service
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