eHi Car Services launches its car-sharing brand "HiCar" in Guangzhou

Guangzhou, China, September 21, 2017 — In the morning, eHi Car Services, a nationwide car rental chain, held a test-drive event for its car-sharing brand "HiCar" in Guangzhou and announced the official launch of HiCar after concluding its trial operation phase. The service is now fully operational in the city. Mr. Cai Lihong, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of eHi Car Services, attended the event. He stated that car-sharing services are an important component of the car rental industry, and eHi Car Services is confident in providing Guangzhou residents with high-quality and convenient vehicle services.

Currently, the sharing economy is booming globally and has flourished in China under the backdrop of "mass entrepreneurship and innovation." Shared economy sectors such as car-sharing, bike-sharing, and home-sharing have rapidly expanded across the country. In April this year, eHi Car Services launched the trial operation of HiCar in four first-tier cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen — and later expanded to ten cities. This move aimed not only to continuously refine and optimize the service system but also to explore the car-sharing market.

It is reported that after the official launch of HiCar in Guangzhou, the related charging and service models remain unchanged. The entire service process involves just three steps: "download the HiCar app — make a one-click reservation — return the car with one click." A new user promotion has also been launched, offering 5 coupons worth 20 RMB each upon registration. HiCar’s pricing is similar to that of taxis: a starting fee of 15 RMB (including 30 minutes of use), plus a mileage fee of 1.8 RMB per kilometer (billed per 0.1 km) and a time fee of 0.2 RMB per minute for usage exceeding 30 minutes. Additionally, HiCar offers a daily rental option — for usage exceeding 2 hours, the daily rental plan is recommended.

Cai Lihong noted that eHi Car Services previously offered car rental services based on hourly, daily, and monthly billing models. The per-minute billing model of HiCar serves as an effective supplement to the service system, while its self-service model also provides users with a more convenient car usage experience. "In fact, per-minute rental billing is part of the sharing economy, and hourly or daily rental billing is also part of the sharing economy. They can be converted into each other at any time according to consumer needs."

"For example, a customer may originally plan to rent a car for 30 minutes, but due to changes in usage scenarios or needs, the rental period might extend to several hours or even days. From the perspective of scientific resource management and rational utilization, the Ministry of Transport issued the 'Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Car Rental Industry (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)' in June this year, encouraging the development of car time-sharing rentals and even full-scale car-sharing rental models. This is highly forward-looking," said Cai Lihong.

Industry observers pointed out that unlike traditional car rentals, which are usually billed by the day, car-sharing services billed by the minute primarily meet the demand for short-distance urban transportation. They offer flexibility with on-demand pick-up and return, and are priced by the hour and mileage. With sufficient pick-up and drop-off locations, they can replace the need for taking taxis or owning private cars. When combined with new technologies such as autonomous vehicles and self-driving cars, the potential becomes even greater.

As a pioneer in the concept of car sharing, eHi Car Services has leveraged its strong corporate capabilities, advanced central data service center, and comprehensive vehicle dispatch system to create an O2O car rental system that disrupts traditional models. The launch of HiCar further refines eHi Car Services’ existing service system, effectively improving vehicle usage efficiency and better meeting consumers' increasingly diverse car usage needs.