Would You Try Sharing a Jeep with Strangers?

Rent a Jeep

Fiat Chrysler is working with peer-to-peer car sharing company Turo to establish a network of Jeep owners that want to rent their Jeeps out to fellow Jeep enthusiasts. For those unfamiliar, Turo already lists 350,000 different models of cars on its platform, so there’s definitely a market for this. Most of those that are involved in this program use it as a way to offset car payments. Fiat Chrysler believes that the enthusiasm often associated with owning a Jeep should carry over well with this sort of program.

Subscribe to a Jeep

Additionally, FCA is also working with car rental company Avis Budget Group. The model they’ve set up is a three-month subscription service that’ll allow subscribers to rent a Jeep and then swap it out for another type of car, say a pick-up truck or a larger SUV. The company believes this will help those that aren’t fully ready to purchase a Jeep to go all-in and buy one after they’ve experienced the difference between driving one versus other styles of car. It’ll also help the company gather data and feedback on what they liked/didn’t like about driving a Jeep.

>>Join the conversation about Jeep's ride-sharing platforms right here in JK-Form.com.

Borrow a Jeep

While the rental and subscription programs have already launched, Fiat Chrysler just announced the launch of a third program based around the idea of borrowing a car. This one is also supported by Avis Group and the idea here is that Jeep owners can purchase up to six “Jeep Coins” with each being good for a one-day rental of another type of vehicle. This includes models produced by Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. All coins purchased are good for a year and all “borrowed” cars can either be picked up at an Avis shop or otherwise delivered to the Jeep owner’s home.

>>Join the conversation about Jeep's ride-sharing platforms right here in JK-Form.com.

Why is Fiat Chrysler doing this?

The benefits of these programs are two-fold. For one, it allows the company to collect some pretty valuable data as to what’s working and what’s not with their Jeep vehicles. On the other hand, there’s the money. Fiat Chrysler is certainly looking to cash in on a younger audience that is more attracted to newer solutions like Airbnb, Uber, and more. While the traditional model of selling a car is by no means gone, Fiat Chrysler recognizes that there is a newer market out there with different tastes than before, and they are looking to cater to their needs / wants.

>>Join the conversation about Jeep's ride-sharing platforms right here in JK-Form.com.

Has there been any success?

The idea’s not new, that’s for sure. General Motors ran a rental program last year using its car-sharing service Maven. Additionally, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche have all dipped their toe into subscription services, but the results have been mixed. There are costs associated with keeping inventory full at all times to ensure a positive customer experience. There are also maintenance costs with having so many different types of drivers behind the wheels of cars they don’t necessarily care too much about. And then there’s the sell – how many subscribers actually agree to commit to purchasing one of these cars? Jeep’s three-pronged approach might be good in the sense that they’ll be able to find out which type of service – rental, subscription, borrowing – proves most valuable. At which point, they’ll likely get rid of the other two.

>>Join the conversation about Jeep's ride-sharing platforms right here in JK-Form.com.

To see a list of all the mods done to this CJ and the rest of the awesome pics of it, click here