Zipcar Weekly Notes: Hitting New Campuses & Facebook Push

October 31st, 2011 by Trefis Team
10.48
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ZIP: Zipcar logo
ZIP
Zipcar

Zipcar (NYSE:ZIP), the world’s leading car sharing network, is all set to announce its third quarter results next week, and we expect it to continue with its strong growth momentum with 25%+ membership growth and improving operating margins. Having recently expanded its presence to 250+ university campuses nationwide, last week it launched a Facebook application, in addition to its android and iPhone apps, to offer greater accessibility to its users.

See our complete analysis for Zipcar’s stock.

“Reserve a Zipcar” Facebook App

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Zipcar has recently launched a Facebook application “Reserve a Zipcar” to allow its members to book Zipcars or modify/cancel reservations directly through Facebook. It is estimated that 88% Zipcar users also Facebook users who spend roughly 15 hours/day on the social network. Zipcar hopes to utilize the opportunity to acquire new customers from Facebook’s 800 million active users. This application is in addition to Zipcar’s mobile apps available on both Android and iPhones, apart from the Zipcar website.

Zipcar Spreads to 36 New College Campuses, Reaching 250 In Total

Zipcar has also recently gradually expanded its University Program, adding services in 36 new college campuses, reaching a total 250 institutions nationwide. In late August, Zipcar also tied up with Ford in a two-year partnership, making it the largest automotive source for its University Program. College and university campuses serve as significant markets for Zipcar as students are more likely to look for alternatives to personal car ownership than any other demographic group. Renting cars to students also constitutes a long term marketing strategy to build the network out. Students using Zipcars while in college are more likely to subscribe to Zipcar car sharing against car ownership when they enter jobs. The newly launched Facebook app is also expected to make car sharing more accessible to the college community.

We have a price estimate of $27 for Zipcar, about 60% ahead of the market price.