The sharing economy which promotes a sustainable way of living by providing peers quick access to shared resources is anticipated to achieve remarkable growth in the upcoming years. As per statistics, the sharing economy’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is also amongst the highest (28.96% in the forecast period 2023-2028). While Airbnb has been a leading contributor to the sharing economy since 2007, it mostly deals with homestays and real estate rentals. Meaning, that the opportunities to launch P2P marketplaces in other sectors are still wide open
One such P2P rental niche is car rentals. In our recent research, we found out that the overall market size of the car rental industry is an estimated $102 billion in 2024. The car rental industry is also expected to grow at an impressive CAGR of 3.1% in the next five years. Thus, for entrepreneurs aspiring to set foot in the sharing economy, launching a Peer-to-Peer marketplace like Airbnb for car rentals is a lucrative business proposition. Below are some insights you should look into for launching an AirBnb for cars.
The car rental industry is fragmented into both small-size and large-size car rental businesses. However, the experience of renting from a car rental company and a peer differs a lot. Renting from peers can provide customers with a more personalized rental experience. Some key benefits of renting cars from peers are:
Car rental industry insights indicate the increasing demand for car rentals and highlight the rising business opportunities. Along with insights, there are still a few other reasons to invest in a Peer-to-Peer Airbnb-like business model for car rentals.
Launching an Airbnb for cars is highly asset-light. The term “asset-light business model” refers to those businesses where the business owner is only required to invest in the bare minimum capital. On a P2P car rental marketplace, the marketplace owner is only required to invest in platform costs and business registrations, whereas independent car owners list their own cars.
For a better understanding, look at the following workflow of P2P car rental marketplaces.
A P2P car rental marketplace owner can generate revenue via the following ways:
While a majority of websites and marketplaces exist for car rentals, such as Enterprise, Budget, Avis, Alamo and Hertz, they operate predominantly in the B2C sector. For example, nine of the top 10 car rental companies only do B2C car rental operations where independent car owners cannot list their cars. The market scenario is quite similar in almost all parts of the world. This leaves an opportunity to launch a P2P car rental marketplace like Turo and scale up to the level of top players.
Some P2P car rental players you can take inspiration from are:
Car ownership rates have also increased globally with New Zealand and the US having the maximum number of car registrations. These countries are followed by Poland, Italy, Australia, Canada, and France. In the 90s, consumers used to have one car per house but now this number has increased to multiple cars. In many developed cities, each family member has a personal car and it is also not rare to see an individual own 3-4 cars.
In such scenarios where a family or person owns multiple cars, the chances of a car being left idle in the garage are very high. Thus, to help car owners monetize such vehicles, entrepreneurs can launch a P2P car rental marketplace.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the global inflation rate in 2024 is 5.8%. Due to high inflation rates, many consumers have resorted to doing additional jobs in order to make ends meet. This gave rise to the side hustle mentality. In the US, around 93% of the working population seems to have indulged in a side hustle.
However, when speaking of car rental, it is not only a side hustle for many people but also a passive income stream where car owners aren’t required to actively participate in business. To cater to the requirements of such car owners, launching an Airbnb for car rentals is a highly profitable business proposition.
Another reason to launch a P2P car rental marketplace is that it is a year-round business. Regardless of the season – spring, summer, fall or winters, the demand for car rentals remains consistent. Even during the holidays when other businesses witness a drop, car rental businesses witness an incline. Thus, by investing in a P2P car rental marketplace, you can ensure stable returns throughout the year and create a highly resilient business.
After understanding the market statistics, user behavior and opportunities, we can proceed to the technical aspects of creating an Airbnb for car rentals. Here, it is essential to understand the technology you can use to build your marketplace and the features that are required to help you manage P2P car rental operations.
To create a P2P rental marketplace for cars, you need to look for certain rent-centric features. These features will also encompass the various use cases of the car rental industry and help you manage an Airbnb for cars. In case of non-availability of these features, look for alternate software or opt for the ones that are fully customizable.
Based on the selected features, you can move forward to select the right software technology to build your Airbnb for cars. There are multiple software development methods available today. Let’s go through them one by one to understand which method is the most suitable and has all the features required.
The traditional approach to building any software is bespoke development. It was highly in practice in the 90’s and 2000’s but has lost its prominence today because of newer methods of development. For developing a P2P car rental marketplace, bespoke development may not be the right approach because of the following reasons:
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), as the name suggests refers to readymade software that are hosted on the software providers’ own servers and provided as a monthly recurring service.
SaaS software are also not recommended to create a full-fledged marketplace because of their limited scalability.
Self-hosted software are also readymade solutions with dedicated features to support rental operations. They are tried and tested for multiple business use cases and because of their vast support and long-term affordability, can be used to develop your Airbnb for car rental.
Some reasons to select self-hosted solutions are:
Self-hosted and other readymade software can be quickly deployed on your hosting server. Once deployed, do some primary configurations such as setting the marketplace logo, social media handles, contact us page, about us page, homepage banners, footer section, and more. You can also change the theme color and font and make sure that the entire marketplace is ready to onboard car owners.
After full system-wide configuration, promote your Airbnb for cars for both car owners and customers. To onboard car owners, you can provide them with various incentives. Take a look at this blog to get some idea about the marketing strategies you can implement to attract and onboard car owners.
For lead generation purposes, initially, you will need to simultaneously invest in paid campaigning and organic marketing. After developing a strong SEO base, you can decrease the expenditure on paid campaigns and rely on word of mouth, social proofing, and SEO rankings. Likewise, you will also need to come up with a markdown strategy to gain traction in the market.
Yo!Rent car rental software is meticulously developed after taking into account the minute requirements of car rental businesses. Being a multi-vendor software, it is the industry’s finest marketplace solution for P2P car rental operations. In-built with all essential tools and features that can help you facilitate, manage, and grow your car rental business, Yo!Rent simplifies P2P operations like no other software. Furthermore, due to its unlimited listings, transactions, and user profiles, you can scale and grow your business as much as you want.
Some reasons to select YoRent are:
The primary areas of attention in launching a P2P car rental startup are selecting the right software technology and timely onboarding of users in lucrative business regions. As more people find out about the benefits of renting out cars from peers, you can expect the entire P2P car rental marketplace model to grow. Due to this and limited competition in numerous regions, it is the right time to capitalize on a P2P car rental marketplace business. Furthermore, because of their asset-light nature, running an Airbnb for car rentals is also highly cost-effective.
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Abhishek Kataria is a business consultant at FATbit Technologies. He assists entrepreneurs and business owners in developing viable digital touchpoints and marketplaces. Abhishek is curious about exploring and analyzing new business trends and has a keen eye for the latest developments in the eCommerce sector. Apart from consulting, you can find him practicing French and exploring his creativity in Photoshop.
