By now we know it well: the future of mobility is not just linked to the car. Indeed, the key to sustainable and efficient mobility will be being able to find the right balance between all possible solutions. This, of course, not only do we know this, but also the car manufacturers, which in fact are creating solutions for mobility beyond the car, such as Kinto. This is the new Toyota company that it will not sell cars, but will deal with new and innovative ways to enable 360 ° mobility, from car sharing to carpooling to integration between public and shared transport. Are you curious?
What is Kinto, and why is it important to know it?
For several years we have been talking about the new need for car manufacturers to broaden their interests, and break away from just selling cars. The new generations, in fact, almost always no longer have the passion and desire to have their own car, nor do they pursue a dream model that they can finally put in the garage. Young people today are more pragmatic, and they also take very seriously the possibility of take advantage of new and different types of mobility, whether public or shared.
This is why many manufacturers want to do everything possible to intercept this new demand for different and innovative mobility solutions. From car sharing to the possibility of setting up a trip on different means of transport, different realities are being born that include this within one new entity, young and sparkling.
We’ve talked over the past few months about Mobilize, new born of the Renault group that deals with sharing and mobility services. Today, however, we focus on a new brand that comes from the East, more precisely from Japan, Kinto. For some of you it will already be familiar: Kinto is in fact the company that deals with the innovative mobility solutions of the Toyota brand, and has already launched his own in some Italian cities car sharing. It is a company very young, born only in 2019 and that has since had one single mission. Which? Become the leader in mobility services, offering many solutions for any mobility need on a single macro-platform. And Kinto’s background is really important, as it’s backed by the world’s largest carmaker.
The various faces of Kinto: long-term rental, sharing and carpooling
But just because Kinto is backed by Toyota doesn’t mean all of its operations are based and run on the automobile – quite the opposite. In fact, the Japanese company wants to keep its promises of innovative hub for mobility offering many services, which can be used via various apps for your smartphone. Kinto indeed wears different faces, offering a different experience for each service it offers.
The most traditional facet of the Kinto world is Kinto One, that is the service of long term rental of the Japanese company. By taking advantage of the One service, you can access the long-term rental of one Toyota or Lexus hybrid or electric car. Kinto One then includes it within the monthly rate road tax, insurance, roadside assistance and maintenance, all at a very attractive price. To give you an idea, with an advance of 3,300 euros you can rent one Yaris Hybrid a 239 euro per month for 36 months, all included. To discover all the offers, click here to know the Kinto price list for Toyota cars and here for the models Lexus.
But usually, where there is long-term rental, there are also solutions for the shortest time rental there is, car sharing. In fact, Kinto also operates in sharing with Kinto Share, a shared mobility that is innovative and different from the usual. Compared to classic car sharing, which allows you to return cars to pre-established parking lots or wherever you want, Kinto Share relies on the Toyota and Lexus dealer network already present in the area. Thus, the service is not only present in large metropolises, but also in smaller hinterland towns.
For example, in Milan it is possible to rent a Lexus or a Toyota also in Trezzano sul Naviglio or Vigevano, not necessarily in the capital. Kinto Share is available in Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Sardinia: here you will find all the map. And the rates? You can rent a car with Kinto Share starting from 3 euros per hour with a cost per kilometer of € 0.30 per km. However, it is also possible to rent a car for a day, a weekend or a week, starting from 30 euros per day with 100 km included.
After introducing car sharing and long-term rental, however, it’s time to get to know the most innovative faces of Kinto, starting with Kinto Join. What’s this? It is a service of corporate carpooling: for those who do not know what it is, it is essentially a way to share the commute between home and work with your colleagues. In this way, traveling together, you save time, space for parking and obviously pollute much less. The company encourages employees to use this mode of travel, to save space, CO2 and even maintenance costs for company cars. Employees, on their side, can improve their interpersonal relationships, receive incentives and save time and money.
From stationary car to multi-mode: Kinto Flex and Kinto Go
As you may have already understood, Kinto is a very large ecosystem, which still hides two (or rather, three) aces up its sleeve. Let’s talk about two services that go beyond sharing, one focusing on private mobility and the other on multi-modality. Let’s start from the first, Kinto Flex. This is a solution similar to a long term rental, which however allows, as the name implies, flexibility. What does it mean? That you will not be tied to a single car, but you can change it as many times as you want.
Do you need a small city? Here is your Yaris. Do you need to go on a family trip? Perfect, here comes a RAV-4. The service has not yet been launched in Italy, but promises for a single monthly fee to have access to a wide range of Toyota cars, replaceable as often as you like.
But that’s not all, because I deliberately left the most interesting app for last. I’m talking about Kinto Go, which is not specifically concerned with cars, but with mobility. Kinto Go is indeed a smartphone application that allows you to integrate different types of services within it. Here you can, for example, pay for parking for your car, plan trips by public transport, request a taxi e pay for all these services directly from the app. In addition, Kinto Go cares about sociability, pointing out all the events best in your city.
The latest news: Kinto Share Holiday and Kinto Ride
As you have surely noticed, Kinto is not a company that willingly stands still doing the same things over and over again. There is always a lot of news, and in 2021 we saw a really interesting one and another new one will arrive but already quite intriguing.
The one we already know is there Kinto Share Holiday, which is a solution of medium-short term car sharing for your holidays. In fact, Kinto noted the absence of a sharing service for those who went on vacation in Sardinia. If you wanted to get around the island, the options were either to rent a car in the traditional way or to take a ferry and arrive with your own. No simple and immediate sharing service… until this summer. In the airports of Olbia and Cagliari, therefore, several Toyota, hybrid and otherwise, have arrived to allow vacationers to explore the Sardinian island. Prices? We talk about 40 euros per day for Yaris in June or September, and up to 110 euros for the ProAce City in July and August.
This is an innovative way to offer a service on vacation, but Kinto has also thought about the moment of returning home. In fact, the latest invention of the Japanese company will soon be launched, Kinto Ride. There are no details about it yet, but it is defined by the brand as the branch of Driver service. Be it a real one rival of Uber Pop, to allow private individuals to give passes to those who request them? We will find out soon.
Will this be the new frontier for car manufacturers?
As you have seen, Kinto is one very fresh, innovative and dynamic company, which ranges from the classic long-term rental to more innovative and sustainable solutions, also within everyone’s reach. Today we talked to you in detail about the Toyota brand, but there are actually many companies that are emerging with the aim of making the mobility of the future easier and more accessible. The aforementioned Mobilize by Renault is one of these, recently arrived in Bergamo and ready to expand its range of action in other areas of Italy.
Kinto is definitely a very interesting prospect, and an example of what we could see in the automotive world in the coming years. To paraphrase a famous saying, if customers don’t go to cars, cars go to customers. If the automobile no longer has the same appeal it once did, it is time for traditional carmakers to groped new paths, never beaten and full of surprises, but definitely intriguing and exciting. And you? What do you think? Did you already use Kinto services? Or didn’t you know them? Let us know below in the comments!