Shropshire Star

New subscription service brings phone-style contracts to car ownership

Drover works with more than 100 fleet partners to provide cars to customers on a subscription basis

Published
(Drover)

A vehicle subscription service that allows motorists to pay a monthly fee to rent a car could revolutionise vehicle ownership.

Drover is an online platform where customers can get access to cars via an all-inclusive monthly subscription, as opposed to a more rigid, long-term finance or lease option.

The cost of the car, insurance, maintenance, servicing, taxes and breakdown cover are all included in the monthly fee, and users can swap, upgrade or downgrade their car each month – or cancel their policy – at no extra cost.

The website uses a fully digital transaction process, where customers create a profile, upload a scan of their driving licence, choose a vehicle, design a subscription package based on mileage and location, and then get their car delivered to them the following day.

Drover doesn’t own any cars, but instead works with fleet partners, including large rental companies such as Europcar, Avis Budget Group and Hertz, as well as dealer groups and directly through manufacturers such as BMW.

The idea has given Drover a promising start and the company recently received investment of £7.5 million from new backers.

(Drover)

A further £2m had already been invested by Version One and Forward Partners in Drover’s pre-seed round, making total investment in the firm £7.5m.

The London-based firm says that the sizeable funding will be used to scale the company further and invest in its engineering and product team.

(Drover)

“At Drover, however, we’re rethinking car ownership itself – a space where very little innovation has happened to date.

“We are building an integrated end-to-end platform that looks to the future, and prioritises meeting the demands of the modern-day customer.

“Simply put, Drover is designed to free consumers from the long-term commitment of a loan or lease, while providing the benefits of car ownership that are missing from existing ride and car-sharing options.”

“We are confident that the team at Drover will rapidly grow car subscription in the UK and beyond by building tech-enabled operational excellence for their supply partners while creating tremendous value for their customers.”

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.