Hyundai Capital boosts carsharing with 'Delivery Car'

Seen is a demonstration of the Delivery Car application, a carsharing service developed by Hyundai Capital, on a smartphone screen, Monday / Courtesy of Hyundai Capital

By Kim Yoo-chul

With greater flexibility and the potential cost savings it can provide, carsharing is set for strong growth.

Carsharing programs are changing how people across the country get around. These services offer consumers all the benefits of automobile ownership without the attendant high-fixed costs that include expenses such as purchase, insurance, maintenance and even parking.

The expansion of carsharing is visibly changing the transportation landscape in urban areas and also offers new growth opportunities for financial institutes helping create new business through intense collaboration with small rental car companies.

For young consumers and commuters, in particular, affordability and high operational and maintenance costs are enough to dissuade many of them from owning a vehicle, making carsharing programs an attractive alternative.

Hyundai Capital, a Korea-based global financial company is aiming high in this business category.

The financial arm of Hyundai Motor Group is riding on the booming commercial carsharing membership business in Korea with pushing its in-house “Delivery Car” brand.

In a statement, Hyundai Capital said the beta version of its Delivery Car service has been available since September 6 of this year. It said Delivery Car aims at offering customized services upon customer requests. The program enhances the ease of use as it puts together the best features from delivery and carsharing.

Specifically, Hyundai said Delivery Car is a business model which aims to pursue “shared growth” with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In its most basic form, carsharing is car rental by the hour.

Providers include independently commercial firms and garages. High operation costs make it difficult for small rental car companies to launch carsharing services. Hyundai Capital said the company has teamed up with small car rental companies, letting them use the Hyundai-owned platform to reduce operational costs. Hyundai said its decision to share its rental platform with these companies resulted in having more rental firms that can work with the carsharing network.

The statement said Hyundai Capital is responsible for handling all marketing activities and projects to help its rental partners build the carsharing system and providing finance. Its car rental partners are responsible for servicing the vehicles and operating systems.

“By using the best resources that each partner company has, Delivery Car offers a high quality of service. Delivery Car offers a wider selection of vehicles from full-sized cars and SUVs to electric vehicles with help by our partners,” a company official said in the statement.

Extending the benefits of automobiles and comfort

All carsharing vehicles must be returned on time to their original pick-up location at the end of the reservation. But customers using the Delivery Car service don’t have to pay for extra time to pick up or return the cars as the statement said Delivery Car handles both.

“The ‘Delivery Car’ agent will deliver the cars on time to customers at the location they designate. The agents will then brief the customers about key details associated with driving of the car. The Delivery Car agent will come to the customers’ locations after they are finished using the car and take the car back. Therefore, customers don’t need to worry about issues that are linked to car maintenance and security,” said the statement.

The company also compensates the customer up to 20,000 won ($18) if delivery is late.

No other means of transportation provides the same valued combination of safety, comfort, convenience, utility and choice of route and schedule.

Hyundai Capital is introducing an expanded array of services in different cities.

In Jeju, the country’s southern most resort island, Hyundai Capital is collaborating with the Jeju regional government to expand its electric vehicle-only carsharing service. Meanwhile, it has launched a “KTX-Delivery Car” program with Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) under which the two companies jointly promote programs aimed at expanding the traffic network.

Other than these projects, Hyundai Capital also signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Jeju Air for joint promotional campaigns in services they will introduce later.

“Carsharing’s steady growth has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in studies of the phenomenon. The trends that will determine carsharing’s future are becoming clearer. The Delivery Car business model will be truly beneficial to local rental car partners. Hyundai Capital welcomes more rental car partners,” said the Hyundai official.

Customers can use Delivery Car by downloading the application from Google Play or Apple app store. Users can start reserving vehicles after a simple self-verification process. For more information, visit www.deliverycar.co.kr.