Taipei, June 9 (CNA) Zipcar Inc., the largest car sharing service network in the world, launched its business in the Asia-Pacific region on Friday when it started operations in Taipei.
Boston-based Zipcar, a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group, uses a self-service car rental business model that gives members access to cars in its fleet parked at certain pick-up locations through reservations made by logging onto its system via the Internet.
Established in 2000, the car sharing service is now available in more than 500 towns and college campuses in many countries, including Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Zipcar's major competitor in Taiwan will be local company iRent. Unlike iRent, Zipcar requires customers to first sign up as members, after which they can rent a car by the hour or by the day.
Members can also opt to pay a monthly or annual reservation fee, with hourly charges deductible from their account balance.
According to the company, members will have access to the Audi A1 and Volkswagen's range of vehicles, including the Golf, Caddy and Sharan.