Jeep running pilot programs for car sharing, subscriptions
The car sharing will require a number of owners to get on board with the idea.
Fiat Chrysler will use one of its most popular brands to trial some additional mobility services with the help of some notable partners.
Fiat Chrysler will establish pilot programs for peer-to-peer car sharing and a separate subscription service, Bloomberg reports, citing an interview with Tim Kuniskis, the head of Jeep's North American operations, at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show . Both pilot programs will run for three months, and both begin next week.
"We'll find out what's good and what's bad, what customers like and what they don't like, and ultimately from that we'll decide if we want to do this as something we promote to our dealerships at the time of sale," Kuniskis said in his interview with Bloomberg.
"Sure, I could have kept my Wrangler for the weekend, but a 707-horsepower Grand Cherokee sounds pretty swell, too."
For its P2P car sharing service, FCA will hook up with Turo, one of the most prominent companies in that field, and there's a whole section of Turo's website dedicated to it. According to Bloomberg, the automaker is working on recruiting owners to sign up and make some money on the side by renting their vehicles out for others to use.
On the subscription side, FCA chose Avis Budget Group as a partner. This scheme will let Jeep owners swap out their cars for other vehicles, like a Ram 1500 or Dodge Challenger . According to Bloomberg's report, Avis will be responsible for managing the subscription program's supply. In terms of swapping, the program will let users swap into other cars up to six times over the length of the program. Two can involve delivery, but the remainder will require the user to drive to swap a vehicle.
Roadshow has been keeping close track of a number of subscription programs, which we've compiled into a single handy guide. Automakers, dealers and third parties have all attempted to carve out a niche in this new arena, and some have proven more successful than others. Many are still in the pilot phase, and there's really only been one notable departure thus far, when Cadillac canceled its Book program at the end of 2018.
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