Peugeot launched a new kind of hire scheme in the UK last week where businesses can rent from its unusually wide range of cars, scooters and vans plus electric and pedal bikes all from one place.
The firm’s UK boss Jon Goodman said: “We have to face up to the fact that people’s requirements are changing. This is the future of mobility.”
The scheme, called ‘Mu’ from the French verb ‘mouvoir’ meaning to move, is initially being trialled at two UK dealerships – one in Chiswick, West London and the other in Bristol – and works by registering and buying mobility credits online before pre-booking the vehicle best fit for purpose, whether a big van for an office move, a convertible for a weekend away or an electric car or pedal bike for city meetings.
Prices have been kept keen to compete with car clubs and conventional daily rental, and range from £40 for half a day’s scooter hire to £140 for an RCZ for a weekend.
UK marketing director Christian Stein said the Mu scheme offers more choice and control than daily rental, and said vehicles will never be more than six months old and prepped in advance for the individual customer (unlike car club vehicles).
He’s also keen to help businesses by potentially running such programmes within existing fleet schemes, especially for ones looking to reduce overall car usage as part of their eco strategy, as he told BusinessCar: “We would love to run Mu for fleets, perhaps called Mu Professional, and have already had corporate customer approaches, but first we have to get the basic scheme to work.”
Clearly wider coverage is needed to make the scheme work beyond local custom – currently vehicles have to be picked up and dropped off at the same dealer – but Stein expects a roll-out across Peugeot’s 250 dealers from 2011.
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