Audi Ponders Hourly Rental Scheme for Beijing

Audi AG is considering introducing its “Audi at home” hourly rental service in Beijing to help residents overcome the city’s restrictive rules governing the use of privately owned cars.

Sales chief Dietmar Voggenreiter tells Bloomberg News the scheme would “fit perfectly” in Beijing. The city restricts licensed vehicles on certain days. And would-be car owners must wait for success in a lottery system just to gain the right to buy a license plate.

In March Audi began testing its hourly rental service in Hong Kong, where users use a phone app to rent one of the company’s cars at a rate of about $26 per hour. Voggenreiter says the company plans to expand the service there. Audi also is testing the concept in the U.S. in Miami and San Francisco.