From Airbnb apartments to Naked Hub office spaces to Ofo bicycles, the concept of sharing has been embraced by millions who have utilized these services for the convenience they afford. The latest entrant to the sharing economy is cars, with more than 20 Chinese cities introducing timeshare rental cars to their roads.
According to the latest report by UBS Investment Bank “The utilization rate of a car is merely 4 percent – it spends only one hour per day on the road. The other 23 hours is spent in a parking lot. Timeshare rental is hence a good way to make the most of a car,” said Hou, who also pointed out that attractive rental economics would help increase electric vehicle penetration.
According to Luo Hanxin, head of Beijing Togo Science & Technology Co Ltd’s marketing division, the company has placed more than 3,000 timeshare rental cars in the central business districts and shopping areas of Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou of Guangdong province. More than 10,000 additional vehicles will be added to Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu of Sichuan province and Sanya of Hainan province later this year.
“The ideal density for the timeshare rental market is to have about 1,000 people sharing a car. This means that Shanghai alone will require 30,000 shared cars,” said Huang. “Only a few companies within the nationwide network can survive the competition, so we need to focus on developing and innovating so as to avoid getting marginalized.”
Source: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn
