Localiza, a Brazilian car rental company, announced the launch of a new business platform, Zarp Localiza, a solution aimed at app drivers who rent vehicles for work. The platform brings together services including an app that centralizes all services related to car rental.
With Zarp, Localiza strengthens its business arm specifically focused on app drivers, with products aimed at these professionals, such as mileage rental plans, and benefits such as fuel discounts. In addition to the app, Zarp will also have exclusive agencies and a call center.
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According to João Ávila, Localiza’s executive director and in charge of the Ride Sharing business unit, Zarp is the result of work developed by Localiza Labs, Localiza’s technology and innovation unit focused on creating solutions that meet the demands of app drivers.
“These are mobility needs, a demand for very specific services compared to other people who rent a car to take a trip or to corporate commitments: the car is the tool of income generation, it is their business,” Ávila says.
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In the Zarp app, the driver can manage car maintenance and overhauls as well as financial management of ridings and fines. Also, the entire Zarp fleet is connected and, through telemetry and data sciences, the vehicles can be tracked; the driver’s behavior on the traffic is also monitored.
“With this technology, we can alert drivers with risky driving profiles, reducing the risk of accidents, and also issue alerts in relation to the contract, reducing the risk of default,” explains André Petenussi, Localiza’s CTO.
Zarp starts operating in partnership with Uber and will open three branches in São Paulo city in the next 90 days.
Localiza still awaits merger approval with Unidas
The launch of Zarp takes place shortly after Brazil‘s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) issued a statement which says that the merger agreement between Localiza and Unidas results in a concentration in the vehicle leasing and fleet management market and that the merger process demands an investigation.
Cade’s positioning is a setback in the consolidation of the merger between the two companies announced in September last year. At the time, estimates indicated that the merger would result in a company valued at BRL 49.5 billion and ahead of a fleet of nearly 500,000 vehicles.
