Car-rental firm in S.F. going global — 56 nations
San Francisco’s Turo is going global and adding car-rental companies’ fleets to its on-demand inventory.
Besides its current model of letting regular people rent their personal cars to others, Turo is now adding independent car-rental companies, small firms that often have specialized inventories. That’s allowing it to offer rentals in 56 countries starting Monday.
“We’re providing more outlets for travelers to access amazing inventory across the world,” said spokesman Steve Webb.
For instance, in Britain, these boutique rental companies have vintage Rolls-Royce Ghosts and custom Jaguars, he said. New markets include Rome, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Iceland, Mexico, Australia and Britain.
By partnering with existing companies, Turo can more quickly set up shop in new regions, since those companies already comply with local laws, he said. “This program can show us where there’s natural interest in our marketplace so we can
make plans to launch there” with the peer model, Webb said.
Until now, Turo has been in the U.S., Canada and Germany. Those still are the only markets for its peer model.
Turo said it has 230,000 vehicles for rent and about 6 million users.
The company also announced Monday that it had raised $104 million from investors, including American Express Ventures and Sumitomo Corp., a Japanese conglomerate. Turo said it looks forward to tapping into both companies’ extensive travel experience. The investment brings its total backing to $205 million.