Mobility platform Socar (403550.KS) is targeting everyday travel such as commuting and school drop-offs, aiming to establish itself as a service woven into daily life rather than one used mainly for weekend trips.
Socar said on the 16th that it is rolling out three services built around weekday travel: "Deliver Now," which brings a shared car to a requested location within an hour of booking; a 50% discount on the one-way fee charged when a car is not returned to its pickup point; and "Evening-to-Morning," which allows customers to keep a car from the evening commute until the following morning.
The company will first run "Deliver Now" as a beta service across Seoul. It works the same way as its existing delivery service, formerly called Bureum. Customers select "Deliver Now" in the app and choose a car based on their current location, and Socar brings the vehicle directly to them. If a car is not assigned within five minutes of selection, the reservation is canceled automatically with no cancellation fee. The design is meant to keep customers from waiting without knowing whether a car will arrive, or from paying a fee if the booking falls through.
To keep assignments reliable, "Deliver Now" allocates the closest available vehicle to the customer's location. If delivery is delayed by unexpected circumstances such as traffic restrictions, Socar will compensate customers with credits usable in its app, with the amount tied to the length of the delay. Separately, the return time is extended automatically.
Socar has offered a service that brings cars to a requested location since 2018. Under the existing service, however, customers had to book at least four hours in advance for standard vehicles and at least six hours ahead for Black Label, its premium option.
The "Evening-to-Morning" service, which lets customers rent a car from 6 p.m. until 10 a.m. the next day, will keep its weekday rental rate at 15,900 won regardless of price changes. Customers can pick up a car on the way home and keep it through the next morning's commute without returning it, removing the need to rent again in the morning.
The one-way fee discount is aimed at users who cannot spare the time to return to their starting point. For one-way car sharing of four hours or more, the one-way fee charged on top of the rental rate is cut by 50%. Using a car one-way allows customers to pick it up at a Socar zone near home and drop it off near their destination, such as an office, school or hospital, without driving back and with less need to find parking at the destination.
Socar also plans to immediately implement car-sharing support measures if a Seoul city bus strike proceeds as scheduled from the first bus of the day on the 16th, including coupons offering a 65% discount on rental rates for residents facing disruptions to daily travel. The coupons will be usable for midsize and smaller vehicles rented for periods ranging from 30 minutes to 16 hours. Socar said it will flexibly adjust the terms, including eligible areas and vehicle types, depending on how the strike unfolds and how many cars are available in each area.
"We plan to keep improving convenience so that car sharing takes root naturally in everyday travel such as commuting, beyond trips and long-distance weekend travel," said Ahn Dong-hwa, head of Socar's car-sharing division. "Our goal is to provide a service that customers can use right away, without hesitation, whenever they need a car."
