Edinburgh Car Club Numbers Rocket Due To Credit Crunch
EDINBURGH CAR CLUB NUMBERS ROCKET DUE TO CREDIT CRUNCH
Edinburgh has the fastest growing car club in the country as the capital's motorists desperately try to cut their household bills in the face of the looming recession.
City Car Club, which offers a cheaper alternative to owning a car in Edinburgh, has seen an unprecedented 46% increase in members in 2008, bringing the current total to nearly 2,200. Over 700 new members have joined this year alone and the vast majority of those were in the past couple of months and cited the credit crunch as the main reason for choosing the club instead of owning their own car. Over 100 Edinburgh residents and businesses are now joining every month.
And this has coincided with the biggest drop in the city's new car sales since 1966. New statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures have shown close to 19% drop in new cars sales in the Edinburgh in 2008.
City Car Club Manager Keith Stark said: "Edinburgh motorists have always been early adopters of the club but recently numbers have shot up as the credit crunch has started to bite. Edinburgh is now one of the fastest growing car clubs in the country, and is close to even passing London in size.
And he added: "In the past six months more and more families and businesses in the capital have decided to join a car club as opposed to buying a car because it's so much cheaper, less hassle and environmentally friendly."
The savings are considerable. According to RAC figures the savings are around £1,300 a-year for a family car doing 4,000 miles (and that's without considering the capital outlay of buying the car in the first place.) A Vauxhall Corsa doing 4,000 miles a year is £2,381 when insurance, petrol, maintenance, depreciation, vehicle tax and parking permits are all added up. A City Car doing the same mileage will cost just £1,065 - a saving of £1,316.
At the beginning of the year membership of the club in Edinburgh stood at 1,510, and now it is 2,218. Membership is expected to reach 2,400 by Christmas and the club is looking to add a further 30 cars in the next few months to meet demand.
What City Car Club does is very simple: they currently have nearly 100 cars in Edinburgh which they rent by the hour for less than £5, with 50 miles free petrol every day. The cars are parked on the streets in convenient locations all over the city.
Bookings can be made directly from the cars at a moments notice, on the internet at www.citycarclub.co.uk or over the telephone on 0845 330 1234. Cars are parked in designated parking bays and once booked, members gain access with their smart enabled, personal membership card (totally keyless access). Their PIN is entered onto the onboard computer and then just drive away. Journeys made are itemised on a monthly statement.
For more information please call
Sean O'Brien or Feben Iyassu @ Austin O'Brien Communications
020 7485 3222