EasyJet founder unveils new car hire scheme - Car Rental News
EasyJet founder unveils new car hire scheme
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Car Rental News - 12/12/2011
The founder of easyJet and the head of lastminute.com have announced the launch of a new car hire program.
Brent Hoberman, the founder of lastminute.com has teamed up with easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou to create the new scheme, which enables motorist to rent out their cars when they are not using it.
The program will get underway in 2012 via the easyCar brand name and will utilise smartphone applications that allow users to book reservations for utilising their neighbours’ vehicles. Some 1,000 vehicle owners will take part in the test run beginning in the spring.
The entrepreneurs say the scheme will provide a low-cost alternative to traditional car hire companies and will allow vehicle owners to make money on their cars and help pay ownership costs via renting them out.
Haji-Ioannou, the chairman of easyGroup, said to reporters that it could become the future for vehicle ownership and rental. He said that the new business model would realise that rather than having to purchase new cars for rental that there are a large amount of under-used cars already on the road, noting that this was “lazy capital” that could be put to work once more.
Meanwhile, Hoberman said that now was the perfect time to launch the program due to the current economic climate.
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