Kia Motors offers car-sharing service in Russia and Italy

From Monday (local time) anyone in Russia and Italy can rent Kia Motors’ car for a minimum of one day up to one year. It is part of the auto manufacturer’s comprehensive mobility services that are being launched at an accelerating speed in the global market beyond the simple sale of cars.

Kia Motors announced on Monday that it is launching Kia Mobility pilot projects in Russia and Italy. It allows customers to rent a car for the desired period of time, targeting the niche market missed by the existing rental car industry, which mainly offers short-term rental of several days and long-term rental of several years. The South Korean company focused on the trend in which demands for short-term rental are declining as such cars are used by many random people while demands for mid- to long-term rental for several months are growing as a result of the recent global pandemic.

All cars used for Kia Mobility are disinfected and maintained by the dealers of Kia Motors’ existing dealerships. Customers will be able to rent a car with an easy mind as details about cars, customers, and bookings are also managed by dealers using a dedicated system while the pick-up and return of cars by customers are also handled by the company’s dealerships.

Such mobility business is considered as a new growth driver of Kia Motors and is manifesting in various forms across the world. Kia Flex, which allows customers to freely switch between different cars by paying subscription fees for a certain period of time, was launched in June last year in South Korea while a car-sharing service called WiBLE is provided in Spain. It is part of the company’s Plan S to diversify its business structure in the face of the electrified vehicle era represented by electric cars. The company is also accelerating to accumulate data for the expansion of its mobility business in the U.S. by obtaining vehicle operation records from local ride hailing services along with Motion Lab, Hyundai Motor Group’s corporation focused on mobility services.


Hyung-Seok Seo skytree08@donga.com