Mycardirect Plans Stateside Expansion for Subscription Service

Mycardirect, a car subscription service, is planning to expand its services to the U.S.

Part of the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) AAM Group, Mycardirect says it has ambitions to expand its subscription fleet from 1,000 units to 10,000 units with the U.S. firmly in its sights, although declined to provide a timeframe. It launched in 2020.

“We’ve seen a positive uptake over the past couple of years,” explained CEO Duncan Chumley, an experienced automotive executive, whose CV includes Free2Move Lease (managing director) and Daimler Financial Services (chief commercial officer). “The Covid pandemic has helped open up the whole mobility market much quicker as people have become more uncertain of their future requirements, which plays nicely to the flexibility of car subscriptions.”

Mycardirect provides car lease subscriptions ranging from one month to 24 months, depending on requirement. Wrapped up in the service is full maintenance and breakdown cover.

In March this year, parent company AAM Group (formerly Alliance Asset Management), secured investment funding from Pario Ventures to boost its subscription business.

A U.S.-based business, Pario Ventures is fully committed to expanding the subscription platform Stateside. David Murray-Hundley, CEO and founder of investment firm Pario Ventures, said: “The car subscription space is one full of relatively young companies that face a number of challenges to grow as a business. When Pario Ventures met the AAM Group team, we knew straightaway that the Mycardirect brand had the potential to expand rapidly both here in the U.K. and in the U.S. market. With AAM Group’s decades of experience and impressive access to stock, combined with Pario Ventures’ decades of expertise in expanding companies into new markets such as the U.S., we have a strong team to succeed.”

Chumley added: “We see no reason why the concept shouldn't work in the U.S.. It’s a long term ambition and important for our strategic growth. It provides flexibility and convenience for both consumer and business users - it fits well with the shift to electric vehicles.”

Meanwhile Mycardirect has added to its U.K. services with the launch of a free charge point installation service provided by Egg, a charge point subscription provider, as long as it’s part of a 12-month car lease term.

“Our fully flexible subscription service already offers a peace of mind proposition when making the switch from petrol or diesel to electric. The inclusion of Egg’s home EV charging subscription takes another potential barrier to switching to electric out of the equation. We now anticipate further EV growth within the Mycardirect fleet,” added Chumley.

The business says that electric cars are running at double the UK market, with 28% of the Mycardirect fleet electric compared with the 14% overall market share.

“Our customers tell us that they love the flexibility of our service. They are encouraged to try an electric vehicle for the first time, with no fear of being stuck with it if it does not suit their needs. That’s the beauty of our flexible subscription service,” added Chumley.

Currently the fleet is split 40% business users to 60% consumer, but Chumley sees the business element increasing as fleets look to decarbonize without the risk of committing to full operational leasing during the transition phase to EV.

But while Mycardirect rounds out its U.K. offering, it’s the next step to the US that Chumley has his eye on. “With the experience of US based investors with a history in fintechs - from energy to automotive - the natural step with their support is to go to the U.S.,” he added.