Car or Ride Sharing

Turo.Com Corporate Office

Harvard Business School classmates Shelby Clark, Nabeel Al-Kad, and Tara Reeves were impressed by the business models they saw at Airbnb and eBay. They believed that they could accomplish something similar with cars, using the same basic peer-to-peer model. Founded in 2009, the company was originally named RelayRides. Later, the decision was made to renamed itself Turo in 2015.

Turo teamed with GM and their OnStar program to enable owners to unlock their vehicles using their smartphones. Although this was later discontinued, it was just the start for Turo to enable clients to work together.

Turo offers more than 800 makes and models of vehicles. Owners offer their cars, sometimes including delivery, in more than 2,500 cities and 300 airports across the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Unlike other car rental agencies, Turo does not own the vehicles, nor does it perform maintenance. Turo simply provides the platform by which customers and car owners can connect.

People who wish to generate income from their vehicles while they’re not being used can register the cars with Turo online to be rented by other Turo members. The car owner states the time and place where the car will be available. A client wishing to rent the car reserves a specific time slot for the car online and pays for the amount of time they signed up for. Car owners can set their own prices or use Turo’s dynamic pricing suggestions. The company takes 25% of the sale. In most cases, renters pay approximately 35 percent less on average than a traditional rental car company.

Turo covers vehicles with up to $1 million of liability insurance to protect car owners against lawsuits for injuries and property damage. All renters are also screened for safety. Cars must have less than 130,000 miles and be a 2005 model or newer to be listed on the site, although there are a few exceptions allowed, such as listings for antique cars.

In 2015, Forbes listed Turo as #14 on their list of “Hottest On-Demand Startups. Headquarters are located in San Francisco, California.

Turo is frequently given excellent reviews by both customers and on review sites.

In November 2022, Turo announced that it would soon be in operation in Australia.

Lyft Corporate Office

Lyft was founded in 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmerman. These business partners already owned Zimride but wanted to make a division that dealt with shorter ride sharing. Lyft is peer to peer ride-sharing company that connects those who have transportation with those who need a ride.

Lyft work by having clients set up profiles, which are linked to a funding source, such as bank account or PayPal. Once the ride is marked as completed, payment is sent. Both drivers and those looking for a ride can rate each other using a 5-star system as feedback. All drivers receive background checks and in-person interviews with other Lyft drivers. Although each driver carries their own insurance, Lyft also carries a $1 million policy on each driver.

Lyft requires customers use their smartphone app for rides. There are 5 different types of rides customers can choose from:

Lyft Line- is the cheapest option and will match passengers with other riders if they are going in the same direction. This service is not yet available in all cities.
Lyft – the basic and most popular option
Lyft Plus – matches passengers with a six-seater car
Lyft Premier – matches passengers with a premium ride with seating for four
Lyft Lux – matches passengers in a luxury vehicle, such as a Range Rover SUV and Lyft’s highest-rated drivers

The company had $800 million in revenue in 2015. In early 2016, General Motors and Lyft announced that they planned on launching a fleet of self-driving taxis within 1 year.

In June 2019, Lyft donated $150,000 in rides to immigration groups through the remainder of 2019. This includes the group Raices, a non-profit group that provides legal services to immigrants. The company will also match rider donations to Raices.

In March of 2018, the company announced that it was teaming up with electronic health records company Allscripts to create a platform allowing healthcare providers to arrange rides for patients who lack transportation to appointments. This new arrangement would be available to 2,500 hospitals, 180,000 physicians, and approximately 7 million patients.

In April 2022, rising gas prices are forcing some Uber and Lyft drivers to refuse jobs.

Lyft maintains a corporate office in San Francisco, California.

ZipCar Corporate Office

ZipCar was founded in June of 2000 by Robin Chase and Antje Danielson. The company operates a car sharing company. Danielson and Chase designed their company to be similar to car sharing programs already established in European countries. Cars are parked in strategic locations and clients pay a monthly fee in addition to being billed by the hour or the day. Smart phone apps unlock and activate the cars, as well as provide billing services. Fuel, parking, and insurance are all included in the price.

The company was purchased in March of 2014 for $500 million in cash by Avis Budget Group. The company now operates as a subsidiary. As of early 2016, the company stated that they had 1 million members in 500 cities and operates in 9 countries. The company uses more than 50 different makes and models of cars and light trucks.

ZipCar has been sued twice for charging “hidden”fees, including a surcharge for a parking ticket, even if the ticket was overturned, and for talking to a customer service representative regarding a disabled vehicle, even though there is no other way to report one.

Uber Corporate Office

Uber is a private taxi and ridesharing service that was founded in 2009 by former CEO Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. The company was originally called UberCab and the mobile app launched in June 2010. The Uber app allows you to hail a private cab using your mobile phone’s GPS. The company has several different levels of service:

Uber Black: Black car executive service.
UberX: Cheapest service, non-luxury sedan
UberXL: UberX with a larger vehicle (SUV or minivan)
Uber Pool: Ridesharing service only available in select cities.

The company raised $49.5 million in funding in 2011 which helped lead an international expansion in 2012. The company first expanded into Canada, then the UK and Australia.

2013 saw the company expand into Singapore, Seoul and South Africa.

The company has faced strong opposition from the regulated cab industry. In many cities, a cab medallion can cost several hundred thousand to a million or more dollars. Uber has greatly disrupted that industry. The company has also faced public outcry for their “surge pricing” which increases fares by a multiplier depending on local demand.

Some countries have banned Uber altogether. Notably, the company was banned from operating in Germany in early 2015.

In 2014, the company began UberEats, a food delivery service. Uber anticipates being able to provide UberEats service to at least 70% of the continental US by the end of 2018.

The company stated in May 2019, that it would start banning clients with low ratings, but declined to give an official number.

Uber went public on the NYSE May 10, 2019, under the ticker symbol UBER. The stock briefly rose but returned to its opening price within 6 weeks.

Uber currently operates nearly worldwide and in more than 785+ major cities. The company has raised $2.8 billion in funding to date.

Even with the lower ridership due to the coronavirus, Uber will most likely make a profit in 2020.

Headquarters for the company remains in San Francisco, California.

Hertz Corporate Office

The Hertz Corporation was founded in 1918 by Walter L. Jacobs. He started the business in Chicago, IL with 12 Ford Model T cars. Within 5 years, Jacobs company, simply called Rent A Car, had a fleet of 600 vehicles and an estimated annual revenue of $1 million.

In 1923, Jacobs sold the business to John D. Hertz who renamed the business to Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System.

In 1925, Hertz sold an interest in the company to General Motors. The remaining shares were sold to GM in 1943. General Motors opened the first car rental credit card in 1926 and the first airport car rental counter in 1932 at Chicago’s Midway airport.

In 1953, Jacobs purchased the company back from GM and took the company public on the NYSE.

In 1967, the company was purchased by RCA.

In 1987, Hertz was sold to the Ford Motor Company subsidiary Park Ridge Corporation.

In 2010, Hertz acquired British Car Auctions and in 2012, acquired rival Dollar-Thrifty Automotive Group.

In 2013, the company partnered with China’s largest rental company, China Auto Rental.

Currently, the company has 9,700 locations in 150 countries between the three brands; Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty Rent a Car.

Hertz added approximately 335,000 2015 model-year vehicles to its fleet through September 30, 2015.

Annual revenue in the US alone is $9.3 billion for 2016.

Today the company operates in 145 countries worldwide. In May 2013, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced Hertz Global Holdings would relocate their worldwide headquarters from Park Ridge, New Jersey to Estero, Florida.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, Hertz filed for bankruptcy in May 2020.

Despite laying off thousands of employees, the company paid out $16.2 million in bonuses to executives just before filing for bankruptcy.

In December 2022, Hertz agreed to settle with nearly 370 clients who were falsely accused of stealing cars from Hertz.