Akiro Toyoda, president of Toyota, that is of the first car manufacturer in the world, had announced it in 2018: his company would gradually transform itself from a “car company” to a “mobility company”. In other words, the core business would no longer be the production of cars but the provision of all-round mobility services. For a future that will inevitably see a contraction in world production and sales of cars and which will therefore impose a radical change of direction on manufacturers who want to survive.
And already the following year the global brand Kinto was born, which in Japanese means “cloud” and thus takes up the rooted concept of the “cloud” of offers and services, with the mission of creating an open ecosystem and a new all-encompassing idea of mobility. : simple, in order to be approached by the widest possible public, and sustainable, not only from an environmental point of view, but also from a social and economic point of view. Kinto Italia has also existed for two years, which despite having had to face the difficulties related to the pandemic lockdown at its debut, today employs about 40 people belonging to various age groups to analyze everyone’s needs in view of the tastes of our market from point of view of companies and individuals.
The most obvious example of this philosophy is the application Kinto Go, dedicated to integrated mobility and downloadable for free from the internet, which allows you to organize trips, book and buy tickets for buses, trains, taxis and even pay for parking on the blue lines. To date, agreements have been reached with over 500 mobility operators and the application covers over 5,000 municipalities, which correspond to 70% of the national territory.
It will debut later this year Kinto Flex, that is, a flexible subscription formula for a period from 1 to 12 months and accessible only through digital channels, with zero advance, a monthly price inclusive of everything and with the possibility of monthly cancellation. It is already active instead Kinto One: an all-inclusive rental from 12 to 72 months and already has a fleet of over 5,000 cars made up almost exclusively of electrified Toyota and Lexus.
Kinto Share is a shared car service aimed at companies, but also public and private customers, already launched in 2018 in Venice, where it already has 6,000 subscribers. While Kinto Join it is a “car pooling” formula that allows company employees to share the commute between home and work.
The goal of the Kinto ecosystem, set out by Mauro Caruccio – CEO of Toyota Financial Services Italia and Kinto Italia – is ambitious: to offer users greater flexibility of services, more time available and lower costs for travel and greater attention to environment thanks to the use of electrified vehicles. Advantages which, then, are destined to lead to more liveable cities and a more efficient economic system.
