An increasing number of travellers are using the free-floating car sharing system offered by car2go, not only in their own city but also abroad. Actually in the first quarter of 2017, the number of rentals outside the country of origin increased by 80% to a total of 33,000 transnational trips in Europe. This data shows that car2go trips made by foreigners, both for work and sightseeing purposes, are becoming a very important and consistent percentage of the total rentals.
For example, in Germany there are many foreign customers coming from other European countries using the service: their number grew by 79% in the first quarter of 2017 with 19,500 rentals. Likewise, Germans like to use car2go also in other European countries, outside Germany, mainly in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria. In this case, the number of trips increases by 80% to 13,500 races.
As an international market leader, car2go has over 2.4 million customers in 26 cities worldwide, with over 1.3 million customers only in the 14 European locations where it is present. Thanks to international roaming, all car2go customers in Europe can use the service in the other European countries where it is provided, simply accepting local terms and conditions.
Through the car-sharing concept invented by car2go, Smart and Mercedes-Benz vehicles can be hired anywhere and anytime. They can be located, booked and paid via smartphones. The service has been on since 2008 and is available in 26 cities worldwide (14 of which in Europe, including four Italian cities, 11 in North America and one in Asia – Chongqing/China). Car2go is interoperable between the 14 cities in Europe and the 11 in North America.
This is a sign of the times too, and those planning business trips must begin to account for it massively.