Holden boards car-sharing bandwagon

Holden is moving with the times, introducing GM's 'mobility brand', Maven, to Australia.

Maven provides local consumers two ride-sharing services, Maven Campus and Maven Gig. The former is an app-based pool-car sharing program that caters for businesses that would normally lease and maintain a standing fleet of cars for use by staff.

Currently, Maven Campus in Australia is running on a pilot-program basis limited to Holden and its employees located in Port Melbourne. Asked about the service being made available to other businesses, Sean Poppit, Holden's Director of Communications, has told motoring.com.au that "there's no current definitive plan to roll out Maven Campus to external businesses," but Maven is "getting some very keen interest and exploring options, but nothing concrete yet."

What's left unsaid at this stage is whether a non-GM company entering into a contract with Maven would act as an agent and collect a fee or commission every time one of the Maven Campus cars is used by an employee. If so, it could cut the cost of operating a fleet markedly.

Maven Gig is a straight-forward car-sharing program like Car Next Door or GoGet, but a little less flexible. At present it's limited to Melbourne and Sydney and users pay a weekly rate that's all-inclusive.

"Maven Gig provides gig drivers access to vehicles for an all-inclusive rental rate starting at just $215 dollars per week," says Matthew Rattray-Wood, the GM of Maven Australia.

"We offer drivers the peace of mind of unlimited kilometres, service and maintenance, insurance and roadside assist with the latest technology in some of Holden's top of the range vehicles."

So far, 350 customers have signed up for Maven Gig, with 250 cars on the road. Collectively, those cars – Trax, Astra and Captiva models – have travelled over two million kilometres.

"GM Holden is always looking for ways to evolve and respond to the changing needs of the Australian market," says Rattray-Wood.

"We're excited to unveil the latest innovative form of mobility services direct from our parent company, General Motors, in the US. Maven is building a platform for the future of mobility for people and for business, tapping into the fast-growing sharing economy. The launch of Maven in Australia is a great example of our ability to leverage the global leadership of General Motors in the area of urban mobility."

Maven Campus counts 500 members to date, with 4400 bookings made and the 'broad range of Holden cars' having notched up 100,000 hours in service.

"We're very happy with the success of Maven Gig and Campus so far, we've hit a sweet spot in the market and our customers are telling us just that," says Rattray-Wood.

"It's particularly great to be able to help and engage with young Australians under 30 from diverse cultural backgrounds. However, this is also just the start for Maven and helping shape the next-generation of personal mobility. Maven, and GM Holden, is assessing and testing a range of different programs and options.

"We're examining not just the expansion of Maven Gig to other cities in Australia but also how we can potentially bring this technology and opportunity to the wider public. Watch this space."

Car sharing promises to be the way of the future, as younger consumers turn away from private vehicle ownership – and autonomous cars hold out the prospect of not even needing a driving licence. Roy Morgan Research predicts that car sharing will become commonplace from around the middle of the next decade.

“Our cars sit idle for 23 hours a day, on average, and the car in the Aussie garage is not always the right car for the right job,” says Michele Levine, Roy Morgan CEO.

“Car-sharing enables Australians to have a large SUV when they need to move people and things around, or a small car for that quick trip into the city – one size does not fit all.

“All traditional models in the automotive industry are under siege – this is just the latest avenue of ‘attack’ from alternatives to the ownership model Australians have held onto for several decades.”

Levine's remarks suggest that as cars begin to work harder, and consumer commitment to private ownership dwindles, companies that have been very reliant on volume sales in the past will potentially see revenues plummet. Getting in now and establishing a business model based around car sharing is one strategy that will help keep afloat car companies as we know them.

So Holden is unlikely to be the last car company in Australia to run a car-sharing annex to its sales operation.