SK Rent-a-Car and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Combine Vehicle and Insurance Data to Expand Future Mobility Business

[Financial News] SK Rent-a-Car and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance are combining vehicle-operation data with insurance data to target the future mobility market. The key is to improve management efficiency throughout the vehicle life cycle—from purchase and operation to maintenance and sale—and reduce accident risks and operating costs. The two companies plan to expand their cooperation to areas including electric vehicles and autonomous driving, and to develop new business models as well. SK Rent-a-Car said on the 21st that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in future mobility business at Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 20th. The signing ceremony was attended by key representatives from both companies, including SK Rent-a-Car co-CEOs Shin Jeong-ho and Park Sang-wook, and Lee Sang-dong, vice president of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s Auto Insurance Division.
Under the agreement, SK Rent-a-Car’s vehicle-operation data will be combined with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s insurance data and risk-management expertise. The goal is to go beyond a simple tie-up on insurance products, improve efficiency across vehicle operations, and develop new mobility services.
The companies will first develop a data-driven vehicle fleet management service. They plan to combine vehicle-operation and management data accumulated through SK Rent-a-Car’s comprehensive vehicle-management solution Smartlink with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s risk-analysis capabilities to assess vehicle condition and accident risks in detail. They will explore ways to lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and improve operating efficiency.
They will also work to prevent accidents and improve handling procedures. The plan is to enhance risk-management systems for individual drivers, reduce customer inconvenience and vehicle-operation losses resulting from accidents, and improve the profitability of the rental-car business.
In the future mobility sector, the companies will jointly research the development of insurance products and services tailored to electric vehicles, connected cars, and autonomous vehicles. They will also explore potential cooperation in autonomous-vehicle operations and related infrastructure. In the long term, they plan to expand into the Fleet-as-a-Service business, which integrates vehicle operations and management into a single service.
An SK Rent-a-Car representative said, “This is an opportunity to combine vehicle-operation data with insurance data to improve operating efficiency throughout the vehicle life cycle and make insurance and risk management sources of business competitiveness.” The representative added, “We will use data-driven vehicle management to improve both profitability and the customer experience, and develop new business models in the future mobility sector.”

[email protected] Kim Dong-ho Reporter