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Over 400 Teslas among 480 Faraday EVs
Final contract to be concluded within the first half of the year…Establishing a vehicle subscription system from '1 week to 7 years'
Socar is set to build an integrated mobility system covering everything from short-term car-sharing to long-term subscriptions, by taking over the vehicles, customer contracts, and operating systems of Faraday, an automobile subscription service.
According to industry sources on the 22nd, Socar recently signed a basic agreement to acquire the business of White Cube's car subscription service, Faraday. The final acquisition and transfer agreement is expected to be concluded within the first half of the year.
Through this transaction, Socar has secured approximately 550 Faraday operating vehicles, existing member subscription contract portfolios, operating systems, and information technology (IT) platforms.
Faraday is a monthly EV subscription service launched in January 2024, providing vehicles in an all-in-one package including insurance, repairs, and taxes for 12 to 84 months.
Socar explained that all currently operating vehicles are under subscription contracts, with an average subscription period of 76 months.
Socar emphasized that this business acquisition is an advancement of its 'full-stack mobility' strategy, encompassing all areas of movement.
Socar's services are currently divided into short-term car-sharing, based on 10-minute units, and 'Socar Plan', a weekly car rental service.
Socar reorganized its existing monthly car rental service, 'Socar Plan', into 'Socar Subscription' in March of this year, expanding the minimum usage period to weekly units.
Socar Subscription is a medium to long-term car-sharing service where users can choose unit periods such as 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months. It features app-based non-face-to-face contracts and a structure without a deposit or upfront payment.
Out of Socar's 25,000 operating vehicles, 20,000 are allocated to short-term car-sharing, and 5,000 to Socar Subscription.
Socar explained that with the addition of Faraday's long-term subscription area (12-84 months), it has now built an integrated vehicle subscription portfolio ranging from 1 week to a maximum of 7 years.
Consequently, Socar users can now utilize vehicles for short periods for purposes such as dates, travel, or business trips through short-term car-sharing without burden, or subscribe on a weekly basis for up to a year. If they wish to use a car like their own for the medium to long term, they can opt for a 7-year long-term subscription.
In particular, as 480 of Faraday's vehicles are electric cars, and over 400 of these are Tesla models, these EVs, when added to Socar's existing 800 operating EVs, are expected to significantly strengthen its EV subscription competitiveness.
Socar had previously added Tesla Model S and X, equipped with supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities, to its EV subscription lineup last March.
With the acquisition of Faraday, Socar will establish one of the largest Tesla subscription portfolios in Korea.
A Socar official stated, "We will combine Socar's 25,000-vehicle operating capabilities, nationwide vehicle delivery and collection network, and data from over 11 million members with Faraday's service to enhance the availability and operational efficiency of our vehicle subscription service." They added, "Faraday's self-developed and operated non-face-to-face subscription application and credit evaluation system will also be utilized to advance our car subscription products."
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