ORIX CarShare to be Expanded Nationwide in FY2020.3

ORIX Corporation

12/19/2018 1:05 pm

TOKYO, Japan – December 11, 2018 – ORIX Auto Corporation (“ORIX Auto”) announced today that it will roll its car sharing business out into three new regions—Hokkaido, Chugoku, and Kyushu—by spring 2019, and that it will expand its service stations nationwide in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020 (“FY2020.3”).

ORIX Auto will establish car sharing stations in these new areas largely next to or in the vicinity of existing ORIX Rent-A -Car sites. ORIX Auto operates 1,060 rent a car sites across Japan, and by establishing car sharing stations at rent a car sites located near airports and major Shinkansen and railway stations, ORIX Auto will be able to provide customers with the convenience of both car rental and car sharing.

Car sharing services enable customers to reduce car pick-up times, and to pick up and drop off cars regardless of rent a car sites’ operating hours. These services will improve convenience not only for local residents but also for corporate and private customers on business or for sightseeing trips.

To coincide with the expansion of car sharing stations across Japan, ORIX Auto will run a “Car Sharing Nationwide Expansion Campaign*1” until April 30, 2019. For customers who register as new car sharing members during this period, ORIX Auto will waive the 1,000 yen IC card issuing fee, provide two months of the Private A Plan monthly basic fee—which ordinarily costs 980 yen per month—free of charge, and also provide customers with 2,000 yen’s worth of monthly usage for two months free of charge—a maximum of 4,000 yen’s worth of usage in total.

Over the last five years (from April 2013 to March 2018), the automotive industry has experienced a decrease in the number of new vehicle sales*2. Over the same period, the number of vehicles available for car sharing has increased by approximately 17,000 units, and the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) has increased 23.9 percent*3. Going forward, demand for car sharing services is expected to grow in both urban and rural areas.

Since ORIX Auto launched “ORIX CarShare”, Japan’s first car sharing business, in 2002, it has expanded the scope of its services primarily in the Tokyo Metropolitan, Chubu, and Kinki areas, and Okinawa Prefecture. In April 2018, ORIX CarShare was expanded to a further four prefectures in the Tohoku region—Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima*4. In September 2018, the ORIX CarShare app began displaying ORIX Rent-A -Car sites in addition to its car sharing stations, and enabled customers to make car rental reservations through the app. In this way, the company has developed a number of measures to create new markets and improve customer convenience.

Going forward, ORIX Auto will develop new projects and increase the number of its car sharing stations with the aim of improving customer convenience and enhancing services.

*1 The offer is open to new Corporate members and Private A Plan members, as well as new University Plan members; new Private B Plan members are ineligible for this offer.
・The IC card issuing fee—which ordinarily costs 1,000 yen—is free of charge.
・Private A Plan monthly basic fee—which ordinarily costs 980 yen per month—is free of charge for two months, for a total saving of 1,960 yen.
・For the first two months of membership, eligible customers will receive 2,000 yen’s worth of car sharing usage free of charge per month, for a potential total saving of 4,000 yen.

*2 Source: Japan Automobile Dealers Association

*3 Source: Foundation for Promoting Personal Mobility and Ecological Transportation
・The total number of car sharing vehicles increased from 12,373 units in 2014 to 29,208 units in 2018.
・The total number of car sharing service registrations increased from 465,280 people in 2014 to 1,320,794 people in 2018.

*4 Please see the news release entitled, “ORIX CarShare Launches its First Foray into Tohoku Prefecture,” published on April 17, 2018, for further details: https://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/news/2018/180417_ORIXE.html

Contact Information:
ORIX Corporation
Corporate Planning Department
Tel: +81-3-3435-3121
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