MORE than 60 per cent of the 101 Impreza’s loaned by Subaru Australia to car-share business DriveMyCar were booked by renters within two days of the idea hitting the streets.

DriveMyCar, Australia’s biggest peer-to-peer car-sharing business, reported this week that 61 per cent of the Imprezas available were booked within the two days, and that the rest of the cars are expected to be booked out by the end of this month.

The business, which claimed it charges up to 62 per cent less for rental cars than its rivals, said the take-up in the Uber cars that it rents has also risen.

It said there was a 116 per cent growth in bookings for Uber drivers for the March quarter compared with the December quarter.

The CEO of DriveMyCar parent company Collaborate Corporation, Chris Noone, said renters were chasing a range of different vehicles, not just the Imprezas. He said Uber drivers and governments were the fastest-growing clients.

“The average rental period is 38 days but you can rent from four days right through to a year,” he said.

Places that have the highest take-up of renters is the airports at Melbourne and Brisbane, in Macquarie Park, Sydney and in Perth.

Subaru Australia is using DriveMyCar to showcase the new Impreza. The cars, loaned by Subaru, are returned after a predetermined period.

DriveMyCar is a subsidiary of listed Australian company Collaborate Corporation Ltd that has a cluster of peer-to-peer businesses including caravan rental firm MyCaravan.com.au. It will launch Mobilise.com later this year to facilitate the rent of assets including homewares.

By Neil Dowling