Borrow bringing flexibility back to car ownership

Borrow brings flexibility back to car ownership (Part 3)

Borrow chose to provide EVs to appeal to consumers who are interested in testing the new technology and those concerned about the environment. Millennials are expected to make 40 percent of new-vehicle purchases in the next 10 years, and even some traditional auto companies are turning to electric or hybrid models to target this environmentally conscious segment.

“We now have a lot of [fear of missing out] for people with electric cars who are seeing all of these new EVs rolling out in the media,” de Guzman said. “Borrow is a low-cost, low-risk way to try an EV.”

“Gen Z prefers to be communicated with through more technological ways than ever before, and it’s never as much of a surprise for them when they get the free perks we offer,” de Guzman explained.

Borrow typically offers a backpack full of offerings — including discounts on yoga and other services — with its vehicles. Gen Z customers have come to expect these kinds of benefits with their subscription services. “It becomes just part of the natural experience of what they would get from a company like us,” he said.

Auto industry customers’ expectations are constantly evolving, and it’s likely that subscriptions will continue playing an active role in the market. Rideshare companies are unlikely to be Borrow’s main source of competition because they offer a different consumer model, according to de Guzman. The company will instead vie with automakers looking to provide EVs and offer their own subscription services.

“Getting to and from work and relying on a rideshare service to live a life that’s more full is hard to do,” he added. “Competition with a ride-hailing company is in a different category ... we’re a new type of ownership.”

Subscriptions will continue to grow in the auto industry, de Guzman predicted, and it’s likely that more customers will turn to flexible transportation options. Automakers must be prepared for the road ahead as consumers’ attitudes toward vehicle ownership rapidly change.

by Jon Alain Guzik