Do you have your eye on a certain Ford vehicle, but you’re not sure you’ll be able to afford the monthly payments? Well, the company has a solution for you: rent out your car for short periods, offsetting the cost.
The new program is called Peer-2-Peer Car Sharing, and it’s available now as a pilot program in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and London. Ford cited research showing that one-third of millennials were interested in renting out their car as a way to supplement their income.
Right now, only customers invited by Ford can participate. To rent your car, it has to be financed through Ford Credit, the financing arm of Ford. Combined with Ford’s recently announced car sharing service in London, it’s clear the Detroit company wants to keep up with younger transportation leaders such as Uber and Car2Go.
The Wildest Concept Cars of 2014
Anybody can take Chevy's Chaparral 2x Vision concept car for a spin — anybody with Gran Turismo 6 for the Sony PlayStation, anyway, where the car is a playable download.Gene Blevins—LA DailyNews/CorbisOne day, we'll all finally get to ride those light-cycles from Tron. For now, there's Toyota's FV2 concept car.Joe Klamar—AFP/Getty ImagesDoors? Where you're going in the Smart Brabus FourJoy concept car, you don't need doors.Bloomberg/Getty ImagesThe pickup truck hasn't really changed much in decades — until Volkswagen took it on with this Tristar concept car, which takes a pickup and makes it super offroad-friendly.Fabian Bimmer—Reuters/CorbisNissan's 3-seat electric BladeGlider concept car might actually make it to production, pretty rare for a concept car this wild. If a Jedi Knight drove a car, it would be the BladeGlider.Gene Blevins—LA DailyNews/CorbisToyota hasn't said much about its high-riding C-HR Concept crossover, but we know that it's purple. Very purple.Benoit Tessier—Reuters/CorbisMaserati says its Alfieri concept car represents "the future of Maserati design." Too bad most of us can't conceptualize being able to afford a Maserati any time soon.Pierre Albouy—AFP/Getty ImagesMercedes-Benz's G-Code concept SUV comes covered in what the company calls "multi-voltaic silver" paint that's supposed to act like one big solar cell. It's all very green — err, "multi-voltaic silver." Kim Kyung-Hoon—Reuters/CorbisIt somehow doesn't feel like this car, designed by Russian artist Gosha Ostretsov, will fly off the shelves. But that's okay, because it's more art exhibit than commercial vehicle. Smityuk Yuri—ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis