Corporate Car-sharing FAQ

Car-sharing is becoming increasingly popular in inner cities. Instead of paying taxes and insurance for a car that sits unused for most of the day, you simply rent a vehicle as needed. You then only pay for the time and distance you drove the car. Shared vehicles are also less likely to be parked and therefore take up less space in the city. So it's a clever concept, but can it also be applied to business and company cars?

Find out everything about corporate car-sharing at CARIFY here!

What is corporate car-sharing?

The idea of car-sharing can also be used by companies. As an entrepreneur, you provide your employees with so-called pool vehicles that each company employee can use as needed. Depending on the type of company, you may also need utility vehicles, vans or trucks in addition to differently equipped cars.

In addition, you can be particularly sustainable if your sharing pool includes bicycles, e-bikes and e-vehicles. Bicycles save costs and are particularly worthwhile for short distances in the city center.

There are two models of corporate car-sharing that have proven useful for companies:

• Station-based car-sharing: all vehicles have a fixed location (company parking lot) where they must be picked up and returned to. Employees who need a vehicle book it in advance in the system. A sufficiently large fleet must be available so that sufficient capacity is always available.

• Free-floating: The shared vehicles are parked within a defined area (district). The more flexible pick-up and drop-off offer advantages, as does the absence of a booking system. All that is needed is an app with locations. This model is suitable if your employees' trips tend to be spontaneous and unplanned.

When is car-sharing worthwhile for a company?

Whether a large company or a small business, corporate car-sharing can pay off for companies of all sizes whose employees do not have to be out of the office and mobile most of the time. Shared company cars are less likely to sit around unused. With corporate car-sharing, you save on the acquisition costs of an entire fleet of company cars that individual employees drive exclusively and that sit around on the company premises during the day.

The fleet then has such a low utilization rate that the costs are higher than those of a car-sharing model. The cost of organizing and maintaining the shared fleet should not be overlooked in the case of corporate car-sharing. You should calculate in advance whether car-sharing is worthwhile for your company.

How does corporate car-sharing work?

Corporate car-sharing is very similar to private car-sharing: Your employees don't have their own company car that only they use. Instead, they share several vehicles that they use as needed. Companies like to conclude a framework agreement with a car-sharing provider for this purpose. Employees are then free to use the car-sharing provider's vehicles (free-floating) and park them flexibly. The company and the car-sharing provider agree on a tariff for the trips.

Alternatively, you can provide your employees with their own fleet of vehicles.

This makes sense if your employees often have to make scheduled trips or if vans are needed in addition to cars. However, you also need a company site with sufficient parking space. A booking system is essential to ensure that your employees find the right vehicle at the agreed time.

Does car-sharing make sense for your fleet?

Even if the vehicles in your fleet are mostly sitting around unused, they still cause significant costs. You can reduce the size of your fleet by quite a bit through a corporate car-sharing model and thus achieve savings. However, this is offset by expenses for organizing the vehicle pool.

The car subscription instead of car-sharing

The investment in a company-owned vehicle pool is high; in addition, there are ongoing costs for taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. This makes corporate car sharing seem like a good solution. It is particularly easy to cooperate with a car-sharing provider. However, this model is not suitable for every company.

After all, your employees shouldn't have to spend a long time looking for a suitable vehicle nearby when they have important appointments. This is where the car subscription comes into play. We at CARIFY offer rates for business customers.

Discover here what other advantages a car subscription offers:

• No down payment, no start-up fee and no interest.

• Full cost transparency: registration, taxes, insurance and Swiss vignette are included.

• Maximum flexibility: terms from 1 to 48 months, freely selectable mileage packages, can be terminated monthly at the end of the contract term.

• Less hassle because we organize delivery, maintenance, service and repair for you with our more than 400 partner garages in Switzerland.

• Huge selection of vehicle makes and models. You can even subscribe to vans and commercial vehicles. We offer you numerous electric and hybrid vehicles.

Why the car subscription is a great solution for corporate car-sharing

Corporate car-sharing is part of the trend towards sustainability and is therefore also one of the benefits with which companies try to recruit new employees and convince them of their benefits. Companies also gain through lower investment costs in an individually used vehicle fleet. Freed-up space on the company premises can be used for other purposes. But the model must also fit the company and not disrupt operational processes.

Corporate car sharing does not always save costs because the administrative effort is underestimated. It can also be difficult to react flexibly to changing conditions.

If, for example, free-floating in cooperation with a car-sharing company turns out to be unsuitable, a changeover or adaptation is not possible without further ado or only with considerable effort.

With a car subscription, you can increase and decrease your fleet quickly and easily according to your needs. You always have an overview of the running costs and can calculate much more accurately. The flexibility of a car subscription is particularly attractive. For special tasks, you can get the right vehicle on a short-term subscription; for everyday journeys, you have the right car on a long-term subscription.

Since all ongoing vehicle costs and service work are borne by the subscription provider such as CARIFY, you reduce your administrative expenses considerably. Last but not least, with a car subscription you always have well-maintained new or as-new vehicles in your fleet and can present yourself to your customers in a representative manner.