Nissan, Audi follow Toyota in offering car-share schemes

[FarCenter]

The Yomiuri Shimbun - http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20090825TDY01304.htm

Nissan Motor Co. and Audi Japan K.K., have joined Toyota Motor Corp. in offering car-sharing schemes, in a move designed to counter sagging auto sales by raising brand recognition and increasing the firms' ecological appeal.

Unlike a rental car service, in which many cars are made available to any number of customers, in a car-sharing scheme one car is shared by a limited number of people who must be members. The members each possess IC cards used to unlock the cars.

Nissan has been providing a car-sharing service in Yokohama since late July on an experimental basis through an affiliated rental car firm. The 20 or so members of the scheme jointly use a Nissan Otti light car and March compact car.

The members must make a reservation to use the vehicles and are required to pay a monthly fee of 980 yen plus an initial charge of 6,460 yen. The rental rate is determined by tallying the total driving time (340 yen per 15 minutes) and distance traveled (15 yen per kilometer).

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[notadmblnd]

1. It may work in Japan but I doubt it could be successful here

Americans love their cars too much to share them. To many, they are their second homes.

[SoCalNative]

2. But it IS working in the US

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipcar

And there are several other services nationwide as well.

[notadmblnd]

4. The only american city I saw there was one in Cambridge Mass

No,New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, SanFrancicso. The only place it could be minimally successful in my opinion would be large cities such as New York where parking costs just as much as rent.

[SeattleGirl]

5. It's working here in Seattle.

I see Zipcars around the city quite frequently. One of the parking lots near my office is a drop off/pick up place for the Zipcar.

I need my car too much for my job to use a Zipcar, but for people who don't need to drive that often, or who usually walk or take public transportation, I think the program is great.

[FarCenter]

6. They are in a lot of cities

See list at http://www.zipcar.com/cities?&return_url=%2ffind-cars

Mostly Northeast and California, but also in various university towns as well.

[taterguy]

3. Americans are heterogeneous

Some love their cars.

Others have a car that stays parked more than it's driven and would like an economical alternative.