Car sharing hasn’t derailed the traditional auto industry business model yet, but interest in services that allow people to borrow a car instead of buying one is growing, judging from new figures from one of the industry leaders.
Enterprise Rent-a-Car, a unit of Enterprise Holdings Inc., tells the WSJ that membership in its car-sharing services has nearly doubled during the past year to 120,000 customers, as the company has expanded its car-sharing operations to more large cities and college campuses and launched smartphone apps to make it easier for members to reserve a car.
Enterprise has acquired several regional car sharing startups, including AutoShare in Toronto and OccasionalCar in Denver, and is promoting them under the Enterprise CarShare umbrella.