Ford Motor Co. Sees new business opportunities in leasing—and not in the traditional one customer per car format. The automaker, which is experimenting with unconventional transportation methods such as car-sharing, will soon start providing group leases for its vehicles. Beginning next month, Ford will offer leases on vehicles to self-organized groups of three to six people. The 24-month group leases will only be available at three Austin dealerships—Covert Ford, Leif Johnson Ford and Maxwell Ford.

Don't miss these great programs available on your favorite Ford vehicles. Of down payment. Not available on Focus RS, Fiesta, Mustang Shelby GT350/GT350R, Ford GT, Super Duty and F-150 Raptor. For all offers, take new retail delivery from dealer stock by 1/2/18. See dealer for qualifications and complete details. We have a wide selection of new Ford for sale in the Atlanta, GA area, including popular models like Focus, Mustang, Escape, and F-150. Whether you're looking for a.

The pilot program called Ford Credit Link was announced, alongside several other initiatives, at the North American International Auto Show. The aim of the initiative is to find new revenue sources for the company.

Ford accounts for nearly 6% of the $2.3 trillion automotive market that involves the sales, financing and repairing of cars, CEO Mark Fields told Fortune at CES, the consumer electronics trade show held in Las Vegas earlier this month. However he has his eyes on an even bigger prize: The untapped $5.4 trillion market for car-sharing services that is currently dominated by Zipcar and ride-hailing companies like Uber. This pilot—and several the programs that were announced at its Monday press conference—are part of the company’s so-called Ford Smart Mobility plan. The initiative, introduced a year ago at CES, involves building cars with additional Internet connectivity, experimenting with the different forms of transportation as well as with —such as grabbing information from in-vehicle sensors to learn more about how people travel. SIGN UP:, Fortune’s daily newsletter about the business of technology. The shared leasing pilot aims to attract customers who don’t need a vehicle on a full-time basis, but still want some kind of ownership. It’s essentially the middle ground between car ownership and car-sharing.

Samsung Pvr Drm Decrypter there. Lease groups will be able to reserve drive time, check vehicle status, keep up with maintenance, communicate with each other, view their account, and make payments through a vehicle plug-in device and app, Ford says. © 2017 Time Inc. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our and (). Fortune may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.

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Back in February, Ford Motors’ financial-services division, Ford Credit, launched a pilot program in Austin, Texas, called Credit Link, through which prospective car buyers could split a lease on a vehicle with two to five other consumers rather than lease or buy one by themselves. The idea was to test out an alternative car-ownership model. In this case, one in which the leasers would create a schedule to determine who has the car, when they have it, and to split car payments however they chose. Channeling the gospel of the burgeoning sharing economy that has powered companies like Airbnb and Uber, the Credit Link program that “it’s time for a new kind of mobility.” Unfortunately, Ford can’t seem to mobilize anyone to. One of Credit Link’s greatest flaws—other than its inscrutable name—may be at the core of its business plan.

Financially, Credit Link might seem like a fine idea—the opportunity cost of a leased car just sitting in the driveway for 90 percent of the day might be too high for some individuals. But to make sense, such a program would have to carve out a niche somewhere between individual car ownership and car-sharing services like Zipcar and Car2Go, which are convenient and don’t involve coordinating with two to five other drivers. Unlike with those services—and certainly unlike with Uber—a car leased between six people won’t really be there whenever you need it. The only thing close to a guarantee is that scheduling will be a pain. (Although perhaps Ford might have more luck with Credit Link by focusing its marketing efforts: Shared car-leasing might appeal to people who have already proven that they’re willing to sacrifice some ease while participating in a shared venture, like the residents of a housing co-op.) Top Comment.