You have to be one of BlaBlaCar’s French “Ambassadors” — the platform’s most active members — to access the car-as-a-service package.
BlaBlaCar, a long-distance carpooling startup, sealed a deal with leasing company ALD Automotive and German automaker Adam Opel AG to pilot the car deals to its most active members, right from the app. The package offers lower-priced leasing, warranty, and maintenance services to BlaBla’s Ambassadors.
“In France, we have 300,000 Ambassadors who carpool regularly,” Alec Dent, business development manager at BlaBlaCar, told Mobility Buzz. “In order to be a BlaBlaCar Ambassador, you need to have at least 12 positive ratings averaging 90% or above, been a member for a year, and have a full profile.”
Through this pilot project, BlaBlaCar, ALD Automotive, and Opel will offer a combination of zero-deposit finance, attractive monthly payments, and fully-inclusive maintenance packages. Ambassadors will receive a $21 USD discount on their lease for every month they share journeys on BlaBlaCar.
For $196 per month — which could go down to $175 when carpooling that month — Ambassadors can lease the Opel Corsa “Edition” 1.2l petrol 82hp, Dent said. At that price, the deal includes 12,427 miles per year — which is the average amount of miles that BlaBlaCar Ambassadors travel, he added.
For the time being, Ambassadors are the only members who can benefit from the offer. “Our Ambassadors believe in sharing journeys and do it very regularly, and as such, we feel they will see a huge benefit in these new leasing options,” Dent said.
Dent declined to specify when the program would open up to all members, but that BlaBlaCar “will be closely watching” the pilot to see how the community responds.
“We always wanted to bring more services to the BlaBlaCar community,” he said. “First, we offered tailored insurance via a partnership with AXA — leasing was an obvious next step because it’s the biggest cost our drivers face, and we want to help them optimize it.”
BlaBlaCar currently has 40 million drivers and passengers in 22 countries. The site and mobile apps connect people looking to travel long distances with drivers going the same direction, so they can travel together and share the cost. Each passenger makes a fair contribution for their seat, and drivers cover their fuel and toll costs, but do not make a profit. Members can even specify how chatty they are from “Bla” to “BlaBlaBla.”
ALD Automotive, a leasing and fleet management business line of Societe Generale Group, operates in 41 countries, employs almost 6,000 persons, and manages over 1,375,000 vehicles as of Dec. 31, 2016.
