Turo is the peer-to-peer car sharing company that is changing the economics of car ownership across the world. With over 550k members in Canada, and over 10 million members globally, Turo is turning the car from a cost center into an earnings engine.

We spoke to Cedric Mathieu, Director, Canada, Turo about the growing peer-to-peer car sharing market in Canada.

• When did Turo Canada launch and which city in Canada has the most members?

Turo launched in Canada in 2016. We continue to see triple digit growth here year over year and some of our most active cities are Toronto and Montreal. In terms of most members we have the most community members in Toronto.

• How many Canadian are using TURO at the moment? How many cars are listed?

There are over 570,000 Canadians using Turo. That is over 1% of the entire population and we are thrilled Canadians have taken to car sharing with us the way they have. We have 19,000 cars listed across Canada.

• Are there classic vintage and super luxury cars available to rent via Turo?

Yes! We have over 800 makes and models in the platform. This includes some stunning vintage cars and luxury vehicles as well. Think of any car make and model and you will find it inside Turo! From Teslas to Porsches to Jaguars.

• How are you taking care of the insurance for someone leasing their car to a third party? Is there a background check?

Every trip is backed by 2M of liability insurance and full coverage for damage to the vehicle – with no deductible – provided by Canada’s leading insurer, Intact Financial Corporation. Any accident happening during a Turo trip is covered by this insurance, rather than the host’s personal insurance. That means that Turo is safe for everyone, and the host’s personal insurance is never impacted by their activity on Turo.

• What are the benefits to becoming a host or a renter on Turo? 

For hosts, Turo is a great way to offset the cost of car ownership. Turo hosts use our platform to turn a cost center into an earnings engine. Canadian hosts make on average $650 per month sharing their car on Turo, which allows them to pay for insurance, parking, maintenance, car payments, etc. Before Turo, there was really no way to generate this kind of passive income with their cars – that’s what makes Turo so popular among Canadian car owners.

For guests, Turo represents a better, cheaper, more personal way to access a car when they need one. The selection of cars available is unrivaled across the entire transportation industry (from traditional car rental companies to fleet-based car sharing companies) and the price per mile is much cheaper than other car sharing options. The convenience, and personal touch of dealing with an actual human being rather than a soulless corporate fleet are some of the other qualities that are regularly mentioned by our guests when explaining why they prefer Turo to other transportation options.

• How is Turo making a difference to consumers?

Turo is creating value for all car owners in a way that wasn’t possible before. Canadians spend thousands of dollars on their cars every year and it’s only normal that they can now recoup some of this value by sharing this expensive, vastly underutilized asset with people around them.

• What are your biggest business challenges currently? 

The biggest challenge for our business today is to make peer-to-peer car sharing even more popular and make Turo a true household name – too many Canadians are still not aware that this is something they can leverage to offset the cost of car ownership, and we’re working hard to make it happen.

One of the TURO Car Host Tamas is based out of Niagara Falls, here are his views on using TURO

How did you hear about Turo? 

I heard about Turo from one of my American friends. He saw an ad about Turo and he knew I was an Airbnb Host, so he suggested to me that I try Turo. I am glad I did.

What type of guests do you get in the Niagara area?

I meet with guests from all around the world. Most of the time guests are from the USA, Mexico, Europe and India. They love Turo because it’s hassle-free, as they don’t need to sign tons of paperwork to pick up the car. It’s much simpler and less stressful than using a car rental agency.

For more information kindly log on to https://turo.com/

Story edited by Yugbodh, Editor, The Onside Media for comments and views kindly mail: info@theonside.com