Skift Take
Silvercar remains an interesting outlier in the car rental space. As part of Audi, it will be interesting to see how it grows its operation in the U.S. as self-driving vehicles hit the mainstream.
Since its launch in 2012, Silvercar has taken a different path than the major car rental players.
By offering one premium car, the Audi A4, and allowing travelers to rent a vehicle using a mobile app, Silvercar anticipated the ways that shifting consumer behavior would disrupt ground transportation in recent years. Instead of going after the mass market with a wide variety of cars and locations, Silvercar simplified the process for upscale vacationers and business travelers.
Audi acquired Silvercar in 2017, a sign of the shifting dynamics as automakers become more like technology companies that create their own digital platforms to serve consumers. Silvercar has now expanded to 18 locations across the U.S. and offers the Audi Q5 SUV as a second vehicle option.
According to Silvercar CEO Luke Schneider, who joined the company after serving as chief technology officer for Zipcar, the wider ground transportation ecosystem has evolved to remove the biggest pain points for travelers.
Skift spoke to Schneider about the digital evolution of ground transportation for consumers and business travelers.
Skift: Silvercar has been around for a while, and has steadily expanded across the U.S. over that period. Why do you think the concept has resonated with a group of travelers when they have so many other options?
Luke Schneider: The interesting thing about everything that's happened in the last year and is going to happen this year is that it all followed on a pretty logical vector from where we started the company.
About six years ago, we got together and began putting the Silvercar concept in place and building it. But it was really about two things. [Uncertainty] has plagued the industry for years. You never know what you're gonna get when you rent a car. And then you have to go through what we call the hassle; long lines and dot matrix printers and upsells and fuel plans and insurance prices and everything else. It just makes the ex
