Car giants see road to riches in ride-sharing services

I cannot see this ever working in Japan. Anything like Uber, Airbnb just gets shunned.

A lot will depend on how people view possession, and if you are happy to rent out your car, which can be an emotional as opposed to a financial decision. A car is often more than a collection of metal, bolts and plastic going in the same direction at the same time, it is a personal item, chosen and equipped by you.

Your car might only be used for a few hours a day, leaving the financial analysts drooling over the down time and possible profits and ROI; but when you want to use it, you want to use it now, and not to have to wait for someone to bring it back.

And finally, what happens when it is damaged or abused, as inevitably will happen? It will be off the road when you want to use it.

Hmmmm... I can't see this working. and the parking industry will die.

Maybe it would work in a closed-community type of environment, but on a large-scale? Doubtful.

Mary Hinge: "I cannot see this ever working in Japan. Anything like Uber, Airbnb just gets shunned."

Well, Uber was recently approved to an extent in Tokyo once it was promised that Toyota would buy a major stake in Japan operations, so it's not impossible, no, but it won't happen until they can find a way to keep the current monopolies in play. Japan Inc. fights tooth and nail to operate at the level of characters in an Ayn Rand novel; they'd let themselves die before allowing change to benefit the consumer and not themselves.