Easily locate and unlock cars using smartphones, with Turo Go

The “Airbnb of cars”, Turo – the peer-to-peer car-sharing company, is rolling out a new product that will let users locate and unlock cars using their smartphones. Turo Go is set to launch in Los Angeles initially and will later expand to other markets in 2019.

The new product called Turo Go, is a dongle and in-app service that will allow renters to locate and unlock vehicles from the Turo app software. Thus, Turo Go makes the entire car-sharing process easier by eliminating the need for the renter and the letter to meet – as there is no need to physically exchange keys.

“We want to make hosting even easier… Easy always wins when it comes to consumer products,” says Turo’s CEO Andre Haddad.

With Turo Go, the guest can simply book a car and gain access to it with just a smartphone. Owners will enable the function by plugging a dongle into their cars' OBD ports, and they will be able to track mileage, locate the rented car, and lock and unlock the vehicle. Turo said the added functions “will improve safety as well, and give users greater peace of mind.”

With this new product, Turo aims to bolster the number of cars and users on its platform. Turo Go is set to launch in Los Angeles initially and will later expand to other markets in 2019. Turo is certainly the largest player in the car-sharing space. It has continued to expand its clientele with six million users and access to 5,500 cities in more than 56 countries.