MG has acquired a car-sharing business and plans to launch an offering this year, as it seeks to diversify beyond the traditional car retail structure.
MG UK commercial director Guy Pigounakis said that the details are still being finalised but that the venture is unlikely to be branded as MG.
He said the scheme would be a natural home for the 3 supermini, currently the least popular model in MG’s line-up, as car sharing best suits urban areas and thus smaller cars.
“We are just going through the acquisition at the moment and are looking at programme options,” said Pigounakis.
“We already have a considerable car-sharing business in China. We see car sharing playing well into A-segment cars, which are more popular in large metropolitan areas.
“It works particularly well for some public-sector organisations and companies who have a large number of users who don’t necessarily need a company car 24/7.
“There’s an opportunity there. You could have a fleet spanning the model range and use the car that’s most suitable to your needs.”
Pigounakis flagged the shrinking number of cars sold across the industry and the need to look at other avenues, despite MG’s recent success.
“A lot of that shrinking volume is down to Covid, but it will be interesting to see whether the market ever comes fully back,” he said.
The ZS EV is currently part of the fleet of leading car-sharing firm Zipcar.
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MG UK commercial director Guy Pigounakis needs to understand sales have dropped because MG raised the price of the MG ZS EV with the Mark2 by £10,000 from 2020 discounted ZS prices. Their Mark2 deliveries are almost 6x months late. There are alternatives out there and they are stealing hard won MG market share. IF MG could deliver Mark2 ZS EVs standard range today and a price range around £25K, They would sell very well. But the likes of Kia, Renault, Hyundai are widening their market share right now with more affordable EV offerings. Wait for the other Chinese Manufactures to arrive in the UK like Nio and their car club will make MG EV offerings look primitive.