Kia launches KiaMobility rental service

Kia is entering the mobility market with a new daily rental service operated via its dealer network.

The new service, KiaMobility, allows users to rent vehicles for between one day and a year.

Initially, the service will launch at 16 locations in Italy and Russia. The brand has plans to roll KiaMobility out across Europe next year.

Kia has developed its own fleet management platform for the mobility service, allowing collective operation of vehicles at the dealership. The platform is designed to provide a ‘personalised’ service for customers to reserve vehicles of their choice, pay via a mobile app, and visit the dealer for pick-up and drop-off of the vehicles.

The Korean car maker announced its shift to become a provider of personalised, customer-centric and sustainable mobility services under the ‘Plan S’ strategy it revealed in January. The plan outlined the company’s intentions to develop a diverse range of mobility services and popularise electric vehicles worldwide.

In August, the company also announced plans to expand partnerships with global mobility companies to meet the diverse needs of its customers worldwide.

In Korea, Kia operates the ‘Kia Flex’ vehicle subscription program, with a fleet of up to 200 vehicles available for use. In Europe, the company established ‘WiBLE’ car sharing service in 2018 to enable users to rent and return vehicles at designated locations with its ‘free-floating’ system.

Kia also provided 200 e-Niros to the car-hailing firm Lyft in North America last year, and the company partnered with companies such as Grab, Ola, and Revv to prepare for changes in the mobility service domain in emerging markets.