Tokyo

A fully owned unit of Japanese ad giant Dentsu Inc. announced Tuesday the start of a membership service allowing car owners to temporarily swap their vehicles.

The service by Caroset Inc. enables members to borrow vehicles from other users after signing up by listing their own cars on the Caroset app. Members earn the right to use other people's cars for the same number of days that they have lent out their own cars.

The monthly fee for the service is set at 780 yen, but will be waived until the end of May 2020. Users will not directly exchange money. Members will be able to set daily limits on the distance their cars are used.

The service is expected to help, for example, people who own smaller cars meet their temporary needs for different types of vehicles, such as minivans to carry many passengers or SUVs equipped with winter tires to go on ski trips.

“The service offers a lifestyle that makes users feel like they own several hundred cars just by having one car,” Caroset President Takehiro Naito said.

The trend to temporarily use cars instead of owning them has gained traction in recent years, leading to the rise of vehicle-sharing services.

However, Naito said Caroset is distinct from such sharing services. “We raised the value of owning a car,” he said.

Jiji Press