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Over the last couple of years, many companies have tried to solve the short-distance, short-term transportation problem by designing platforms that offer drivers, bikes, and scooters. A lot of companies have emerged with
such as Lyft, Uber, and Didi. Is Turo car sharing a sustainable business?
Turo is sustainable and can take over the car sharing platform because of its clientele features. The medium-term, longer-distance transportation market is less crowded than a short distance. Usually, customers who want to book a car for a few days will resort to a car rental company like Turo.
Most car rental companies only offer a small selection of vehicles with confusing add-ons and pricing and no delivery confirmation, with limited pick-up locations. Continue reading with us as I discuss why Turo is a sustainable business to start and why it is being recognized globally!
Factors That Contribute To Turo’s Sustainability
There are a few crucial factors that contribute to how sustainable Turo’s services are, and it impacts the company greatly. Let’s take a look at these factors in turn:
Turo Operates On A Global Scale
Much similar to Airbnb, Turo operates on a global scale.
Because travelers visit different countries, states, or cities during the course of the year, Turo successfully helps these travelers to connect with car owners and hosts all around the world by using the identical platform and process.
Network Effects
Turo may have cross-sided network effects but also weak same-side network effects. More travelers ultimately attract more owners and hosts but having more new hosts will not benefits the current hosts.
This is because as the supply of cars increases, the chances of a hosts’ car being picked instantly decreases. It is crucial to have a well-balanced growth on each side of the market in order to generate positive feedback loops.
Turo Can Expand To Numerous Networks
Expanding Turo could become a problematic situation. Hypothetically, Turo could easily expand their services to scooters and bikes, but the bigger companies, such as Didi, Lyft, and Uber (vs Zipcar) are already fighting for these markets.
However, doing the opposite could become extremely profitable, such as Uber acquiring a peer-to-peer car rental platform.
Turo Has Some Competition
Quite a few different competitors, such as Maven and Getaround (see Getaround vs Zipcar) have a shared vehicle platform. They are playing in the exact same fields as Turo. However, the biggest known threat at this stage is legislation.
Rental car services and companies have responded almost in an identical manner as taxi drivers did against Uber. Their argument is that Turo does not follow the current regulations and is being charged much lower taxes than them.
Turo Is Vulnerable To Multi-Homing
Another issue that comes into play is multihoming. Turo has already tried to create some moats in the form of technology, such as “Turo Go.” This is where hardware is installed in cars, making it possible to unlock them by just using a mobile phone.
This can, however, increase the barriers to entry as competitors will have a difficult tie trying to imitate the user’s experience and convict car owners to install extra hardware in their cars.
The Risk Of Disintermediation
Although the risk of disintermediating is low, it may be possible, although not regularly. Owners and hosts need to accept all bookings through Turo’s platform to be able to access the safety and insurance services, and the same goes for travelers.
The Goal Of Turo
Turo is a two-sided platform and a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace. Turo enables hosts to rent their cars out to customers. Turo has become available in over 5,500 cities all across the UK, US, Canada, and even Germany.
It has more than 350,000 vehicles listed, offering more than 850 makes and models to its 10 million users.
Turo’s app and website are extremely user-friendly, and customers can simply search for the car they desire on the web or app and book directly from these platforms. When the traveler arrives, they can also choose how to pick up the car.
The owner can either deliver the car to the arranged location or an airport. There is also an option where the car can be picked up directly at the owner’s location.
Turo also makes flexible and easy returns available for their users, eliminating the stress a traveler could have in an unfamiliar city.
Turo makes their profit on the difference between what the users are willing to pay and what the owner or host charges for their vehicle. As more and more customers and owners are attracted to Turo’s platform, the cross-side network effect also becomes stronger.
Additionally, the reviews function allows it to receive reviews from satisfied customers and help car hosts and owners receive higher rankings on the search algorithms.
Benefits Of Using Turo’s Services
Turo’s platform offers its customers benefits for each side of the market. Travelers have easy access to a significant range of cars, with characteristics and features that match their preferences and desires. This is something rental car services do not offer.
Turo’s booking process is also very simple and straightforward, and customers know precisely what they will be paying for.
Turo also claims that its services are much cheaper than other rental car businesses, and customers can expect to pay at least 25% less than traditional car rental companies.
For car owners and hosts, Turo offers a very easy listing process, and it includes many benefits. There is up to $1 million in liability insurance, protection for theft and damages, along with 24/7 roadside assistance.
Owners of popular cars can easily make more than $600 each month, making Turo a sustainable job as well.
Most importantly, Turo opens up the possibility of making loads of money simply by having an asset parked in your home.
Conclusion
Now that we know why Turo has gained so much popularity, it is only logical that Turo is such as sustainable business. Turo’s business model has grown exponentially over the last few years, and studies have shown that it will only continue to grow.
Turo is not only a highly sustainable business to travelers but to its hosts as well.
