AutoGravity has entered the subscription service space with the launch of Turn, a program that offers flexible car usage and bundled maintenance, collision insurance and roadside assistance for a monthly payment, Miekie Liebenberg, vice president of business development, told Auto Finance News.
Through a webpage or an iOS app, consumers can browse through Turn’s fleet, which will be stocked exclusively with off-lease Mercedes-Benz, Smart Car, Volkswagen and Audi vehicles. Turn is working toward having 100 cars in its fleet by year end and hopes to reach “at least a couple thousand of vehicles” by the end of 2020, Liebenberg said.
The decision to target off-lease vehicles was a deliberate one as Turn’s business model gets off-lease vehicles back into the market after being returned, Liebenberg said.
Currently, Turn purchases its fleet outright and, each time a vehicle is rented, the title remains in Turn’s name. However, “that is not necessarily the endgame,” Liebenberg said, adding the company is exploring alternative fleet ownership options. “We can’t necessarily move from one [entity] pooling a bunch of assets to another one pooling a bunch of assets and say that we are adding value,” he explained, noting that Turn will have to find out where it makes the most sense to keep the assets.
The program was first piloted for four months in the greater Los Angeles area. Customer feedback and adoption have been positive, Liebenberg said, and AutoGravity is exploring a few other cities to roll out the service, but he declined to specify.
That said, AutoGravity is keeping aspirations in check as Turn ramps up. “We’re aiming to be relatively small,” Liebenberg said. “It’s not a national, conquer-the-world-type scenario yet because we know that, in the automotive trade, you have to walk carefully,” he added.
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