Car Next Door, the Australian peer-to-peer car-sharing service founded in 2012, has now been rebranded as Uber Carshare and will operate under the Uber umbrella.
The platform offers short-term rentals for drivers seeking anything from a small car to a van, for a period of an hour up to several days, while in turn generating revenue for car owners who list their vehicles on the service.
Car Next Door sold to Uber in January of this year. The rebrand to Uber CarShare was announced in October, as were plans to take on the North American market.
Uber CarShare says it’s “setting out to make car-sharing mainstream across Australia,” by promoting the use of vehicle sharing rather than the “one person, one vehicle” mentality, which in turn reduces pollution and congestion in cities.
According to Car Next Door half of all Australian households have more than one car, meaning that the country is topping the table for the highest rates of private car ownership per capita in the world.
“Car Next Door is a great Australian success story, and as it evolves to Uber Carshare, we can’t wait for it to be a global success as well,” said Uber ANZ General Manager Dom Taylor.
Uber Carshare says the rebrand will provide a new name and identity, while the business will continue to operate with the same team behind the scenes. The merger will use the existing “car-sharing community with Uber’s mobility platform provides a complete alternative to car ownership”.
“Bringing our car-sharing service together with Uber’s range of mobility options means that Aussies can now access a better way to move – whether they’re catching a rideshare for a night out or borrowing a local van to move house.
“We’re really proud to have developed a technology and service here in Australia that will soon be exported to the world through Uber’s platform,” said Uber Carshare CEO Will Davies.
The move from Uber to acquire Car Next Door is one of its initiatives to support sustainability, although Uber no doubt also sees the potential for the business to grow.
Dom Taylor emphasised the focus on expanding the successful venture to North America, saying that “Aussies are embracing peer-to-peer car-sharing as a mainstream alternative to owning a car, and we couldn’t be more excited to be launching Uber Carshare to international markets.”
Uber Carshare will have to compete with GoGet, the leading car-sharing service in Australia, but will be hoping it can utilise the existing platform and customer base in Uber’s arsenal to raise its profile.
