A Chevy Volt and a GMC Acadia, parked on Little Raven Court, are available for car share through a new app from Maven in Denver. Looking to make money renting out your car or truck? General Motors thinks a lot of people are interested in making cash off their car, which is why the automaker announced Tuesday it is launching a peer-to-peer car-share business. The business will operate under the company’s Maven brand, which already has a more traditional car-share business in several cities and more than 150,000 users. For GM, expanding into peer-to-peer car sharing is the latest move to develop new revenue streams and business lines to complement the company’s core business, which is selling new vehicles. Those who own or lease a 2015 or newer GM vehicle can list their vehicle on the Maven sharing app. Pre-approved car-share users will then be able to rent cars on the app. Owners or lessees renting out their vehicles will keep 60 percent of the revenue, while GM will collect the rest. GM will provide insurance for vehicles being rented out. “If you want to have access to a car, you have access to a car. So I believe this is just expanding our opportunity to provide consumers what they want,” said Julia Steyn, vice president, General Motors urban mobility and Maven. Steyn said she expects some customers will opt to buy more expensive models since they can offset the higher payments with the money they make from renting out their vehicles. “What it allows you to do is truly afford maybe a more expensive vehicle because ... this vehicle is going to make money for you,” said Steyn. Not everyone believes that will happen. “I would not expect a buyer would upgrade their car because they think they can make money renting it out through car sharing,” said Alexandre Marian, a director in the automotive practice at AlixPartners. Marian estimates that 2 million to 3 million people in the U.S. pay to rent a vehicle through peer-to peer car sharing, though that number includes many nonactive users. The two largest peer-to-peer car-sharing firms in the U.S. are Turo and Getaround. GM is the first automaker to enter peer-to-peer car sharing, though some companies like BMW and Daimler have also launched car-sharing operations where the vehicles are owned by the company. General Motors shares were trading up more than 1 percent Tuesday morning.<doc-sep>General Motors is launching a new service in Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich. that will let owners rent out their personal GM-branded vehicles through its Maven car-sharing platform. The peer-to-peer car rental service, similar to how Turo and Getaround work, is a departure from Maven’s existing business model. This isn’t the first time Maven has been tweaked and broadened since it first launched in January 2016. The mobility division initially launched as a car-sharing service akin to Zipcar. The company owns a fleet of GM vehicles and developed an app that lets customers rent the cars when they want and for short periods of time. In 2017, the company launched Maven Reserve in Los Angeles and San Francisco to allow customers to rent its GM-branded vehicles for a month at a time. It also has a program called Maven Gig that rents out vehicles to rideshare and delivery drivers who use apps like Uber, Lyft and UberEATS. But all of those programs involved GM-owned cars. This new peer-to-peer service, rumors of which have been swirling for months, will allow owners and eligible lessees to earn money by renting their personal Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac car or truck. There are restrictions to the service. Consumers can’t rent out their old Saturn, for example. To qualify, the vehicles must be a GM model year 2015 and newer. The service, branded as Peer Cars, will be available to existing Maven members, which now exceed more than 150,000 people. All vehicles rented out on the service will be insured by GM. Peer Cars is just a test product for Maven. At least for now. But the company said it may launch in other U.S. cities this fall.<doc-sep>General Motors' Maven mobility service is all about car sharing, but that sharing was limited to a fleet of GM-owned vehicles... until now. Maven announced today that it has launched a pilot program that will allow GM owners to add their vehicles to Maven's fleet in exchange for cold, hard cash. Currently in beta, the peer-to-peer sharing system is limited to the Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor markets until it's ready to expand in the fall. Enlarge Image Maven All an owner needs to be eligible for sharing their car is a Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet or GMC vehicle that's from the 2015 model year or newer. Vehicles are covered through GM's million-dollar insurance policy, and Maven promises that its drivers are thoroughly vetted before taking your personal car for a spin. So how much money can be made from this? A decent amount, actually -- provided your vehicle gets rented for set amounts of time, and provided you don't set your price too low. Using different vehicles as examples, Maven's site claims owners can make anywhere from a few hundred to more than $1,000 per month if the vehicle is rented out for a full week. Payouts take place every month and are transferred directly to a bank account. Since the eligible vehicles all carry GM's OnStar telematics, owners won't need to give up physical keys -- Maven will install a device for keyless access. The company will also take high-quality photos of the vehicle. If the vehicle in question has the hardware for a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot, it will also enable that hotspot so users can have some connectivity on the road, even if the vehicle's owner doesn't have an active subscription. If you're looking for a bit of extra cash and you don't exactly need to live in your car, Maven's new peer-to-peer sharing service could help reduce the hurt of your monthly car payment. If you're not sure about renting someone's personal car, you can still pick from Maven's local fleets.<doc-sep>General Motors Co.'s Maven car-sharing platform is rolling out a peer-to-peer option in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Chicago. Owners of model-year 2015 or newer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac vehicles can make money on their cars when not in use by enrolling in the peer-to-peer program through Maven. GM vehicle owners looking to list their vehicle on the Maven app will need to go through a short "onboarding" process. A Maven technician installs a device in the car that makes it compatible with app and allows access for potential renters. The new Maven program works a little bit like Airbnb for cars, allowing owners to put their vehicles up for rent, setting their own hourly or daily pricing and collecting a portion of the revenue from the rental. "Across the board, we're seeing the sharing economy gaining ground," said Megan Stooke, Maven's chief marketing and growth officer. "Airbnb is obviously in the lodging space, but it's not just them. Your car is usually your second-most expensive asset — or your most expensive if you're not a homeowner — and it sits idle over 90 percent of the time. Sharing actually gives an owner the opportunity to offset those ownership costs." For users looking to borrow a peer-to-peer vehicle, the experience remains largely the same. They can locate an available vehicle and reserve it in the app, but those vehicles in the new peer-to-peer program will be labeled as "peer." After a short beta period in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Chicago, Maven plans to roll out the new sharing option in additional U.S. markets where the car-sharing program already operates. GM launched its Maven car-sharing service in January 2016 as the company's "personal mobility brand." Since then, Maven has seen some 180,000 reservations, according to a statement released Tuesday. Maven already offers a variety of sharing options, including the traditional hourly, daily or monthly urban car sharing platform, a university campus program and Maven Gig for rideshare and delivery drives. “Maven is a platform designed for sharing and we’ve proven demand exists,” Julia Steyn, GM's vice president of urban mobility and Maven. “In this beta, we are excited to offer GM owners the opportunity to capitalize on this demand and earn income by listing their vehicles.” nnaughton@detroitnews.com<doc-sep>
General Motors wants you to start making money on your car. As long as its a GM car. The automaker announced the launch of a peer-to-peer car sharing service on Tuesday that helps GM owners rent out their Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac to other drivers in need of a short-term car solution. It's like Airbnb for your car. Peer Cars, as the service is called, is now available in beta testing in Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Owners in those cities can already start listing their vehicles. "Your car is one of the most expensive things you own. Sitting idle, it is a wasted asset," said Julia Steyn, vice president of General Motors Urban Mobility and Maven, in a statement released Tuesday. Peer Cars is part of GM's existing car rental platform, Maven, which has offered vehicles for short term rentals, similar to Zipcar. Up until now, individual owners could not list their own vehicle to rent. Related: I rented a guy's $145,000 Tesla Model X Not every GM car is eligible to be listed on the Peer Cars section of the Maven website. Vehicles must be newer models from 2015 or later. GM provides the insurance and makes sure the cars and trucks are in safe, working condition. Customers will still use the Maven app's map to locate their desired vehicle, but the cars will belong to owners who list them on the Maven site. Vehicle owners can set their own prices and schedules. All access will be keyless -- renters will lock and unlock with the phone app -- meaning there's no need to share keys. Peer to peer car sharing is nothing new. Companies such as Turo and Getaround have popularized the concept. But this is the first time an auto company has delved into this specific segment of the industry. In the statement, Steyn said the new endeavor "is a smart way for owners to offset their vehicle investment." GM predicts some owners who hit a certain rental benchmark could earn big bucks every year: $6,401 for a 2018 Chevrolet Cruze, $12,424 for a 2017 GMC Sierra, and $19,278 for a Chevrolet Camaro.