Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) announced an expansion of its car rental business across the US as the core rides business continues to struggle due to its pandemic effects.
Lyft expands Car rental service
The company began piloting the Lyft Rentals program in December, and now they are expanding it to all US customers in partnership with Sixt. Initially, the program offered customers in San Francisco and Los Angeles the ability to rent vehicles through its app. Following the pilot’s success, the company is expanding the program with the responsibility of operating the rentals being under Sixt.
Sixt is a rental company with operation in over 70 locations across the US. Lyft stated that Sixt will operate the segment in other locations, but it will keep running rentals in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Initially, the car rental through Sixt will expand to Miami, Seattle, and Las Vegas. Expansion to other cities with Sixt’s rental network is expected in the coming months.
This move to have vehicle rentals is part of Lyft’s strategy of making its app a one-stop destination for transport services. However, the rental segment has also been affected by the pandemic, and recently car Rental Company Hertz applied for bankruptcy. In recent years Lyft has included transport information as well as cooter and bike rentals in various markets in the US, and its main rival Uber Technologies has the same offerings.
Customers will have the option of choosing a car model and make
The company’s global operations VP Cal Lankton stated that with the car rentals program, the company will offer frictionless, transparent, and integrated transport experience for car renters. Lankton said that their focus is to compete in the sector with rivals on price as well as offer convenience.
Despite the impact of COVID-19 car rental business is slowly picking up as people seek ways of having their summer vacations. To book a car, customers will select the car model and make, and the company will provide $10 credit to customers to get them home after returning the car to a Sixt slot.
