Instead of buying a car, you can rent it for weeks or months and only pay for the time you need it. This way you avoid big bills like a down payment or maintenance costs.
TORREOT is an app that lets you rent cars for a few days instead of buying one. It’s useful if you only need a car sometimes, like for a holiday trip.
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JD Power dot com slash awards. Hi everyone and welcome to the November 21st, 2025 episode of the Automotive News Canada Podcast. I'm your host Greg Lason, the digital and mobile editor at Automotive News Canada. Coming to you from just outside Windsor, Ontario, the Automotive Capital of Canada. Today on the show we hear from the head of Turo Canada, Bassam El Rahimi. He recently spoke to Automotive News Canada publisher Tim Demopolis.
On this show, El Rahimi talks about the car sharing company's core mission, the future of auto ownership, affordability, mobility, access over ownership and more. And so Canadians can turn to Turo to choose a vehicle that fits their lifestyle today. But first, look at some of the top Canadian automotive stories of the week. British Columbia abandoned its electric vehicle purchase rebate program this week. It also will scrap its zero emission vehicle sales mandate. Energy Minister
Adrian Dix says that the sales goal of all vehicles being electric by 2035 is no longer realistic says Dix of the rebate that was worth up to $4,000 quote the rebate programs were never intended to be permanent programs. Dix told reporters in Victoria that the NDP government would introduce legislation next year to revise BC's mandates, bringing them more in line with targets. The federal government is expected to announce in the coming months on the awards front.
Finalists for the 2026 North American car truck and utility vehicle of the year awards were announced earlier this week, two Stellantis brands and Nissan lead the roster of vehicles, the Ram 1500 Hemi Ram 2500 and Ford Maverick Lobo are finalists in the truck category.
The Dodge Charger Honda Prelude and Nissan Centra are the finalists for the car of the year and utility finalists are the Hyundai Palisade Lucid Gravity and Nissan Leaf.
The winners will be announced at the Detroit Auto Show January 14th.
And finally in product news Jeep is taking battery power off road with the 2026 Recon.
It's the brand's first trail rated electric vehicle. The 650 horsepower Recon was built to handle rugged terrain.
It's equipped with 620 pound feet of torque to overcome obstacles in the wilderness and it offers up to 400 kilometers of driving range.
The Recon will offer open air driving with removable doors, swing gate glass and rear quarter glass. Canadian pricing will be shared at a later date.
We'll look at some of the top Canadian automotive stories of the week coming up. We hear from head of Turo Canada, Bassam El Rahimi.
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Welcome back to the automotive news Canada podcast. I'm your host Greg Lason. We now hear a conversation between automotive news Canada publisher Tim DeMopolis and the head of Turo Canada, Bassam El Rahimi.
So Bassam El Turo is aiming to redefine what it means to own a car. What's driving this change and how does Turo's new long term access model fit into the shift and that mindset.
Thanks for the question Tim. What the data shows and what we've seen in market is that car ownership is becoming increasingly out of reach for many Canadians to kind of give you a sense of the data we're seeing in 2025.
We said that the average annual cost on a car jumped nearly 10% which is it is a big number. You know when you zero in on Canadians age between 25 to 44 years old the average cost of ownership is closer to $7,000 and you know that's kind of when we think about the cost of car ownership when we look at used car prices we're also seeing significant increases you know almost 8% increase in the cost of the used vehicle in Canada.
So when you think about these phenomena and the price increases and at the same time you know people are rethinking long term financial commitments whether it's because of terror of slayer off general inflation Canadians want financial flexibility not another major fixed costs like car ownership.
And that's really where a new offering comes into play. Turo's now offering Canadians the freedom of having a car when they need one without the burden of ownership maintenance or depreciation.
It's really a smarter lower commitment alternative for generations that values access over ownership and we're really excited about it.
Okay now you did mention that traditional ownership comes with major upfront costs and financial risk as well as ongoing expenses so how does this new approach make mobility more accessible for Canadians overall who are you know kind of feeling the squeeze of higher prices and even stubbornly high interest rates.
Yeah absolutely. I mean one of the major differences is unlike owning or leasing. Turo's new model lets you pay only for the time that you actually need a vehicle.
So whether that's a few weeks or months at a time there's no down payment there's no long term contract and there's no surprise maintenance bills.
You really access the car on your own terms and so Canadians can turn to Turo to choose a vehicle that fits their lifestyle today and not one that they're locked into for years.
Especially in an economic climate again we're flexibility and affordability matter more than ever and this approach makes mobility attainable for even more Canadians.
Okay so what role do you see dealerships playing in the future of car access and distribution people still need to buy cars at some point even the ones that your hosts operate so how do dealers play in all of this.
Yeah I mean dealers are a critical component of that industry they continue to be the primary or one of the biggest if not the primary sales channel and so when we think about somebody needing to acquire vehicle dealerships still play an incredibly important role.
But we're seeing that you know some folks are for going that ownership and they need the access whether it's for flexibility convenience affordability so the future isn't just about selling more cars.
It's about offering more ways to use and access those cars and so we see opportunities for dealerships to partner with Turo to extend the life cycle of the vehicles that they have reach new customers and need the growing demand for flexible access models and this isn't something new I mean as you know we've had dealerships partner with Turo in the past and we look forward to continue partnering with dealerships to evolve the mobility landscape and the Canadian market.
Okay so speaking about opportunities is there an opportunity to reduce waste and make better use of existing vehicles to this kind of model.
Absolutely I mean this is core to Turo's mission. Turo exists to put the world's 1.5 billion vehicles to better use and so opening up month long trips is the next evolution of that mission it's a smarter more sustainable way to drive what you love without the long term commitment to give you a sense of the opportunity and how we're seeing it.
We know that the average Canadian car sits idle for 22 and a half hours a day that's roughly 95% in time so that's a huge enormous amount of underused value sitting in driveways and we're thrilled to be leading a revolution to kind of better utilize those vehicles without necessarily having to add net new ones to the road.
Okay now let's talk about the Gen Z so how is Turo tailoring it's offering to peel to the changing lifestyle patterns among Gen Z's and millennial drivers.
Of course I mean our younger Canadians are kind of leading the path here for all of us when we look at their shifts I kind of shifts in mentality we see that young Canadians are really at the forefront of moving away from that car ownership model to car access.
We've seen in our data that nearly half of Canadians age between 25 to 44 years old have told us that it prefer flexible car access having a car for say several months without the commitment of a loose or ownership.
When we zero in on our Gen Z's it's really about practicality you know many of them work remote they might bike or take transit most days but they still want a car for weekend getaways or road trips.
When we look at our millennials it's about adaptability maybe they need a compact car now but expect to up size when life changes.
And so what we're really excited about with this new offering around long duration trips on the platform is that you can choose exactly the car that you need when you need it whether it's a compact EV for city driving or a minivan for a few months with a grown family.
Whatever it is that you're looking for you're likely to fight on the platform and again we're super excited to see the younger generations really lean into this new offering an opportunity to really have a mobility solution that serves their needs.
No you're venturing you're venturing into territory that was once dominated by leasing and financing companies.
How do you see this expansion reshaping the broader automotive ecosystem over the next few years.
Damn that's a great question I mean the way we're thinking about it it's really about smarter and more more flexible access to vehicles not necessarily exclusively about selling and buying them.
And so by extending from short term to long term bookings to those helping Canadians rethink mobility altogether you know it's not just a shift in how people rent cars it's really a shift in how they think about car ownership.
We're bridging the gap between car sharing and leasing we believe we're creating a more sustainable on-demand ecosystem that benefits both consumers and car owners.
Not bad some anything you'd like to add.
Yes thank you for asking you know as we're in November now and people are starting thinking about the holidays it's really a great time to give experiences instead of things.
So for folks listening if you haven't had a chance to use TORREOT you know from using TORREOT spot for people can give the thrill of a weekend in a Tesla, a luxury SUV for a winter getaway.
It's a memorable you need gift that celebrates the joys of driving without the commitment.
So if you haven't had a chance to look at TORREOT please download the app and find a perfect vehicle for your next adventure.
Thank you very much Bassam.
Thank you so much I might appreciate your time.
I'd like to thank Bassam for his time and Tim for conducting the interview.
If you'd like to be a guest on the show have a suggestion or simply want to comment.
Email me at glasonatautonews.com and remember you can listen to all our previous podcasts on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play or on our website automotivenews.ca.
Just scroll to the podcast hub in the middle of our homepage.
And don't forget you can follow automotive news Canada on X where we're at auto news Canada.
You can find me there too under at glasonanc.
And finally look for us on LinkedIn just search for automotive news Canada.
That does it for this episode of the automotive news Canada podcast.
We hope you'll join us next time so long everybody.
About this episode
Bassam El Rahimi, head of Turo Canada, discusses the evolving landscape of car ownership and the shift towards access over ownership. He highlights how rising costs and changing consumer preferences, especially among younger Canadians, are making traditional car ownership less appealing. Turo's new long-term access model offers flexibility without the burdens of maintenance or long-term contracts, catering to those who need a vehicle for specific periods. The episode also touches on the role of dealerships in this new ecosystem and the potential for reducing waste by better utilizing existing vehicles.
B.C. scraps EV mandate; NACTOY finalists announced; Jeep Recon EV. Plus, Head of Turo Canada Bassem El-Rahimy talks about the car-sharing company’s core mission, the future of auto ownership, affordability, mobility, access over ownership, and more.
