Toyota Rolls Out Mobility Service Across Europe
Following its success in several European markets, Toyota will roll out its Kinto mobility service across the rest of the continent this spring.
Its Kinto Europe service, a joint venture between Toyota Motor Europe (TME) and Toyota Financial Services (TFS), will open in April 2021, based in Cologne. It is hoped the entity will manage Kinto mobility services across the region and progress from a mobility project into a mobility company.
Toyota says it believes, post pandemic, that the opportunities for innovative mobility services today are greater than ever. Demand for smart, flexible mobility is expected to continue to grow, with an increasing shift in emphasis from ownership to on-demand user-ship. Its new mobility service will provide services such as car subscriptions, car sharing, car pooling and multi-modal solutions, tailored to suit businesses, organizations, cities and private individuals.
The Kinto brand was introduced to Europe in January 2020 and it is now an established mid-size player in the fleet management market, with a fleet of more than 100,000 vehicles. Kinto Share provides car sharing services, from corporate to public and residential customers. Currently operating in Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Spain and Sweden, these services will be introduced in additional markets.
Kinto Flex is a short-term, flexible vehicle subscription service, allowing customers access to various models from the full range of Toyota and Lexus vehicles throughout the year with all services and necessary maintenance included. Kinto Join is a new corporate car pooling solution for employees to create their own private transportation network, launched in Norway and Italy and soon to be delivered in the UK. Finally Kinto Go, a multi-modal aggregator which coordinates journey planning, public transport ticketing, parking, taxi services and events.
Tom Fux, CEO Kinto Europe, said: “There is no defined roadmap for what we are proposing, we have to build our own strategy drawing on our particular business strengths and capabilities. Kinto is not a single service or product, bound by one location, it is genuinely diverse, so we are building a one-stop shop for mobility services, aiming to become the mobility provider of choice for all types of customers.”
— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_
