KINTO Executive - Politicians often speak positively about car-sharing, but they don’t do much

What is Toyota's KINTO brand

Lars: To start, can you share what KINTO is and why Toyota is betting on it?

Olof: KINTO is Toyota’s global mobility brand with several services: Share, Flex, Join, One, and Ride. The idea is to ensure people can always access the right vehicle or shared ride, and to prepare for a future where many will use cars for shorter periods rather than owning long term. 

The Autonomy of the local KINTO branches

Lars: How is KINTO set up across countries and in Sweden specifically?

Olof: The brand is global, but each market chooses what fits locally. In Sweden we run KINTO Share and KINTO Flex, and we are starting KINTO One. Other markets might run Join or Ride instead. The idea with the different concepts is to support trips from one minute to years. 

How do people use car-sharing?

Lars: What have you learned about how people actually book and use the service?

Olof: You need a car nearby, and you want it now. About half of our total trips in a year are booked within an hour of departure. Demand spikes on weekends and is quiet on Monday nights. 

Lars: Wow. 

Olof: We have a lot of younger users. They are used to Spotify, where you want to hear music now. You don’t want to order music for five days ahead. 

Lars: What usage patterns do you see by car type and season?

Olof: People prefer smaller cars for short trips. Longer trips need larger cars for several days such as more luggage. Summer is our peak season, and bigger cars are common then. 

We see a lot of short rentals - they use the service as if it was their own car. They take the car for one hour, and then they return it. Then they come back again in the evening and take the car for another hour. I would say that's a pattern in Sweden.

Maximize utilization of car-sharing through car-subscriptions

Lars: How do you keep utilization high outside summer?

Olof: We started KINTO Flex to place cars with companies for a few months in autumn and winter, then move those cars back to Share when private demand rises. This mix keeps our cars at near full utilization. 

Lars: And how do you keep car subscriptions profitable? I know there have been challenges with shorter durations. 

Olof: I’d say it’s nearly impossible to be profitable only doing subscriptions. There are customers wanting to rent cars from one city and deliver in the next. Sometimes you have 150 cars in the parking lot, other days 5. That’s why we combine the two business models. 

How to make car-sharing profitable

Lars: What does it take to make the business profitable?

Olof: Scale is the short answer! We bought 1,000 cars in spring and now operate about 2,000 in Sweden. At that level a car-sharing business can make money, doing it with a few hundred cars is very hard. Scale also improves terms with workshops and insurers and supports proper back-office teams. 

Lars: Do you rely on buying cars with quantum discount and selling cars to used-car dealerships at a profit to hit your numbers, like traditional car-rental companies such as Hertz and Avis?

Olof: No. In Sweden we do not book buy–sell margins in KINTO’s P&L.

Lars: I can imagine Hertz weren’t too happy when Tesla dumped prices on their cars and they were struggling to sell them after having them on their books. 

Olof: Exactly. 

Lars: Why have you kept a paid membership model, isn’t that from the good old car club days?

Olof: It comes from Sunfleet, the previous car-sharing company I worked at. Customers appreciated it so we decided to adopt in Kinto Sweden. We have a couple of thousand paying members monthly. It is not a large revenue share, but it improves loyalty. 

Car-sharing policy and incentives

Lars: What is your view on public policy and tenders?

Olof: Politicians often speak about car-sharing, but they don’t do much. Some players want to lower VAT or get free parking. We just focus on running a profitable car-share business. 

Lars: How are the municipal regulations? 

Olof: Some municipal tenders are over-specified and complex. Simpler procurement, allowing for multiple suppliers would work better. 

Lars: How far along is electrification in your fleet and what are the constraints?

Olof: Electric vehicles are about 4–5 percent today in Sweden. Scaling is constrained by finding enough parking spaces that provide charging in cities. 

Lars: Is it round-trip or can customers do one-way between cities?

Olof: We run round-trip. One-way between cities is not offered. 

Lars: How do short and long bookings differ in planning?

Olof: Many customers treat it like a personal car with frequent short bookings. Longer bookings are planned well in advance, especially for summer. 

How transit and car-sharing fit together

Lars: What role does public transport play in car-sharing success?

Olof: Funny thing - in the beginning transit authorities saw us as competition. Then we saw how strong public transport is a prerequisite, and car-sharing helps people to use transit without owning their own car. 

Lars: So regions attract car-sharing demand by implementing better transit? 

Olof: Yes, new housing areas need transit from day one, otherwise residents buy cars and it is hard to shift behavior later. A lot of cities have too poor transit for car-sharing to work and need to up their transit game. 

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