Toyota launches Kinto mobility services in Europe

Kinto, a Toyota daughter providing new mobility services, was started over a year ago in Japan and is now coming to Europe. Kinto will start different services in different countries of the EU, according to what the specific market wants and is ready for.

According to an Ernst&Young study, car manufacturers will have to draw one-third of their total turnover from services in 2030. Toyota is planning to deploy this in Europe from now on. The aim is also to increase its market share from 5,3% now to 6,5% in 2025.

Kinto will be the umbrella brand of different kinds of services, from renting over sharing to transport on demand. In Japan, Kinto started to rent cars on subscription, something that will come to Europe too.

“We think that people won’t be happy anymore with just buying a car. Clients will be happy to get rid of nuisances like maintenance, depreciation worries, insurance issues, and so on,” says Tom Fux, CEO of Toyota Fleet Mobility.

Mobility focused

It’s not the first time Toyota outs his ambition to become a mobility company. At first, Kinto will focus on companies and collectivities. Individual persons will be targeted in the next stade because it demands much more investments (money and people).

“By adding mobility services to our normal activities, this will allow us to fulfill the needs of new clients and respond to the claims of cities and regions,” says Johan van Zyl, CEO of Toyota Motor Europe.

In 2018, Toyota started building the foundations necessary to prepare the European organization to integrate new mobility services into its existing business of making and selling cars. Toyota established two entities, respectively, a fleet management company called Toyota Fleet Mobility, and based in Cologne, Germany, and a digital platform company, Toyota Connected Europe, based in London, UK.

The Kinto brand will be used to position the offer as dedicated to new ways to consume mobility and will stand for ‘inclusive and trustworthy’, ‘simple and effortless’, and ‘sustainable’.

“Our new mobility brand Kinto signals that the company is more than ever determined to meet the evolving mobility needs of the customer. Toyota and Lexus are well-established automotive brands, built around reliable quality cars,” says Matthew Harrison, Executive Vice President Toyota Motor Europe.

“With Kinto, our ambition is to create an equally strong brand for mobility services – a brand that consistently delivers exceptional customer experiences, whether moving close to home or traveling in other markets. Kinto epitomizes Toyota’s ambition to offer ‘Ever Better Mobility for All’.

What’s in the name

The new brand’s name is derived from the Japanese word Kintoun or Flying Nimbus, a cloud that provides on-demand transportation for a famous animated character in Japan. Just like Kintoun, Kinto wants to be available every time a customer looks for easy and clever ways to move around, whenever, wherever.

Kinto-branded services will be deployed market by market based on the viability and sustainability of the business case. The first services to be introduced in some European markets include:

Kinto One: a Full-Service Lease offer, providing ease of ownership combining vehicle, service, and insurance in one monthly payment.
Kinto Share: a car-sharing service based on a large hybrid vehicle line-up available via a self-service concept, without the running costs. Toyota’s existing car-sharing service Yuko, which is already operational in several cities in Europe (Dublin, Venice, Copenhagen, and Madrid), will be re-branded under Kinto.
Kinto Join: Carpooling, connecting employees who wish to share their daily commute to work, benefitting both employees and companies who can reduce their CO2 footprint.
Kinto Flex: Subscription-based car leasing, offering increased flexibility, and providing a premium experience.

Other services are being evaluated, such as ride-hailing or a multi-modal app. The services would feature easy access via mobile apps and integrated payments.