Hankook Tire's First In-House Venture 'Towncar' Approved for Sandbox Demonstration Exemption

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Towncar, the first in-house venture of Hankook Tire & Technology and the nation's first apartment-based vehicle sharing brokerage platform, announced on the 12th that it has received approval for an ICT regulatory sandbox demonstration exemption from the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sandbox Support Center and the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Towncar is a neighbor-to-neighbor idle vehicle brokerage and rental platform where personal vehicles not in use within the same apartment complex (including officetels) can be registered on the platform and rented out short-term to other residents. The platform allows owners to earn income by sharing their infrequently used vehicles with neighbors, while neighbors in need of a vehicle can use it at a low cost. With this approval, Towncar has become the first and only apartment-based peer-to-peer vehicle sharing service in Korea.

Since vehicle insurance is available and usage opportunities are provided only to neighbors living in the same apartment rather than to unspecified many, it is safer and more trustworthy. Additionally, the platform offers the best vehicle management solutions to registered vehicle owners to help maintain their cars in optimal condition, and provides perfectly maintained vehicles to renting neighbors, enabling a safer vehicle sharing experience.

Towncar is operated by Townz, the first in-house venture startup born through Hankook Tire's internal proposal system 'Proactive Studio.' Townz plans to gradually expand the demonstration areas starting from Hanam City.

Meanwhile, Hankook Tire operates an in-house venture program that provides various supports as well as re-employment opportunities within five years. Through this, the company aims to enhance employees' creativity and spirit of challenge internally and actively support the birth of future innovative businesses. In addition, it has fully introduced a flexible seating system to foster a creative work culture. It has also flexibly developed work methods by actively utilizing video conferencing systems and remote collaboration solutions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.