Celebrating four years in the UK

by Xavier Collins

posted on October 17, 2022

Four years of Turo in the UK have flown by. It’s a moment to thank you – our guests and hosts – for being part of the journey, moving car sharing into the norm and proving that the car hire market needed a proper shake-up.

You’ve driven demand (and epic cars)

Research this summer showed that UK car rental costs skyrocketed by 190%. It’s no surprise that we had an explosive summer as more people turned to car sharing and haven’t looked back.  You tell us you like our choice of awesome cars with the flexibility to book a simple city run-around or something bigger and beefier. And as we continue to grow, you’ll find even more choices.

Speaking of awesome cars, when we partnered with the release of Jurassic World Dominion this summer, you jumped at the chance to drive an iconic Jeep Wrangler complete with classic Jurassic World livery. It was a brilliant partnership for our team to get creative with, including offering you the chance to win a glamping trip for four and to take your own adventure (without a T-Rex in sight).

You took more trips and connected with friends

Demand for cars on Turo has been significant, with an increase in summertime bookings of over 200% year on year.  Lots of you headed down the A303 this summer to sunny Cornwall, our guests’ favourite staycation destination. This year’s guest survey also showed that  you also love the Scottish Highlands, the Lake District and South Wales. These four locations were your must-visits for 2022.

Staycations and weekend breaks weren’t the only reason you booked trips. Over 40% of you booked cars this year to visit friends and family, which is exactly the kind of stat we love to hear! Some of you have already booked your Christmas trips, particularly if you have a favourite car and host.

Getting Turo seen

You may have spotted Turo out and about a bit more, too. Perhaps you’ve noticed us splashed across the sides of buses, on the tube, or at a major shopping centre? It was all part of our biggest ever advertising campaign that asked you to book a car to match your mood, pairing guests with the perfect vehicle. The campaign showcased some brilliant cars, including a particularly suave Audi TT (which happens to be perfect for that ‘emails off, weekend on’ kinda mood!). 

We asked for your help to share the secret of car sharing, too, launching our refer a friend incentive for UK guests. If you’ve booked a car on Turo, you have the chance to save 20% off your next trip when a friend makes their first booking with 20% off. A win-win all around. Thank you for helping to grow the Turo community!

Helping hosts

Car sharing simply doesn’t work without our hosts — those people helping to put the UK’s 33 million cars to better use. Earlier this year, we introduced the Turo Carculator™ with CarWow to make it easy for potential hosts to quickly find out how much income they could earn by sharing their vehicle.

On average, hosts make £442 a month* by listing their cars on Turo. What I love about the car-sharing model is that money goes straight into the pocket of someone in your community, helping them earn extra cash. And in today’s world, that’s something that we don’t underestimate the importance of.

Sustainable choices

There’s a clear trend towards choosing electric vehicles, whether to use an extended test drive (and put the public charging network to the test!) or if you just fancy seeing what all the EV buzz is about. A big part of our road ahead is offering a wider choice of electric and hybrid vehicles to help you make greener choices when you drive. We want there to be even more Teslas available to you, so when a Tesla Owners Club UK member lists their car, we’re doubling the first £400 they earn.

The road ahead

As much as it’s great to take a moment to celebrate how far we’ve come and the fun we’ve had along the way, our sights are firmly set on the future. Our roadmap is taking us to new places (literally — watch this space!), and we’re growing the team next year to help bring new features to guests and hosts. 

Thanks for being part of the Turo community and being part of something bigger and better. We couldn’t have done it without our incredible guests and hosts.

Xavier Collins

Xavier is the UK Director at Turo. He stays on the go and is always on the hunt for the best road trips Europe has to offer.

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