Ford jumps into car-sharing pool with pilot program

NEW YORK – Ford is following the car-sharing craze, launching its own pilot program in six U.S. cities and in London.

Under the program, customers who finance their vehicles through Ford Motor Credit will be able to rent their vehicle to pre-screened drivers for short-term use, helping to defray some monthly vehicle ownership costs.

“As most vehicles are parked and out of use much of the time, this can help us gauge our customers’ desires to pick up extra cash and keep their vehicles in use,” said David McClelland, Ford Credit’s vice president of marketing.

Ford Motor Co. said 14,000 customers in the U.S. will be invited to participate, along with 12,000 in London. U.S. customers will partake through car-share company Getaround, while London customers will use easyCar Club.

The program is being offered through November to Ford Credit customers in Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Portland, Oregon; and California locations including Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco.

The car-sharing industry is showing strong growth and more traditional auto companies are clamoring to get aboard.

Avis spent $491 million two years ago to buy Zipcar, tapping into strong demand for short-term car rentals in urban areas. Enterprise runs CarShare and Daimler AG runs Car2Go in multiple European and U.S. cities.

The number of users has doubled over six years, according to the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California. While it is tiny compared with the traditional car rental industry, annual revenue has reached about $400 million, researchers found.