General Motors is launching a new service in Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich. that will let owners rent out their personal GM-branded vehicles through its Maven car-sharing platform.
The peer-to-peer car rental service, similar to how Turo and Getaround work, is a departure from Maven’s existing business model.
This isn’t the first time Maven has been tweaked and broadened since it first launched in January 2016.
The mobility division initially launched as a car-sharing service akin to Zipcar. The company owns a fleet of GM vehicles and developed an app that lets customers rent the cars when they want and for short periods of time. In 2017, the company launched Maven Reserve in Los Angeles and San Francisco to allow customers to rent its GM-branded vehicles for a month at a time. It also has a program called Maven Gig that rents out vehicles to rideshare and delivery drivers who use apps like Uber, Lyft and UberEATS.
But all of those programs involved GM-owned cars. This new peer-to-peer service, rumors of which have been swirling for months, will allow owners and eligible lessees to earn money by renting their personal Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac car or truck. There are restrictions to the service. Consumers can’t rent out their old Saturn, for example. To qualify, the vehicles must be a GM model year 2015 and newer.
The service, branded as Peer Cars, will be available to existing Maven members, which now exceed more than 150,000 people. All vehicles rented out on the service will be insured by GM.
Peer Cars is just a test product for Maven. At least for now. But the company said it may launch in other U.S. cities this fall.
