Communauto to expand reach in Ottawa with acquisition of car-sharing firm

MONTREAL – A company that describes itself as North America’s oldest car-sharing service is looking to give customers in Ottawa an incentive to park their vehicles by expanding its presence in the national capital region.

Communauto announced Monday that it has acquired Vrtucar for an undisclosed price and says it plans to double the company’s fleet of about 120 cars in the area over the next few years.

The acquisition is the third since Quebec-based Communauto was founded in 1994. The company has already expanded into Halifax and Paris, France.

Communauto, which currently has just one of its own cars in Ottawa, has had a partnership with Vrtucar since 2010 that has given customers access to the other firm’s vehicles.

After the takeover the company will continue to operate the two brand names under a common corporate logo, but the union will simplify billing for customers and help Communauto grow its presence in Ottawa, CEO Benoit Robert said Monday.

Communauto and Vrtucar have a combined fleet of 1,800 cars that serve nearly 50,000 subscribers in Halifax, the Quebec municipalities of Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Montreal and Quebec City, as well as Ottawa, Kingston, Ont., and Paris.

“What Communauto is doing right now is to position itself as a consolidator player so in the future you might hear about us in other markets too,” Robert said in an interview.

The company is expanding its presence in Paris and is reviewing options to expand to other European cities, he added. It may also eye other deals in Canada.

Communauto faces some competition from Car2Go, which operates in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

But Robert said other car-sharing services and taxi-alternative Uber only help to increase overall demand for alternatives to car ownership.

Uber says it plans to launch its car-pooling service in Toronto on Wednesday. Uberpool will allow people to share their journey with another rider heading in the same direction, reducing the number of cars on the road and alleviating congestion.