CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zipcar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZIP), the world's leading car sharing network, today announced plans to expand the company's Zipvan™ cargo van service across North America. Zipcar is launching the Zipvan service in Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon today, and will roll out the service to its remaining metro markets in North America over the next 12 months.

"Our simple and convenient Zipvan service is changing how consumers and small businesses move and transport goods, much in the way Zipcar altered the way consumers view car ownership and traditional car rental," said Scott Griffith, Zipcar chairman and CEO. "We believe the rapid growth of Zipvan in our pilot markets comes from our first-to-scale advantage and the convenience of Zipcar's member-focused 'wheels when you want them' approach."

The Zipvan service makes it easy to use cargo vans more frequently, so shopping trips involving large items, apartment moving or deliveries by business users are more convenient, efficient and affordable. Zipvan started in London and today accounts for over 10 percent of Zipcar's UK operation. The service was expanded to North America as a pilot program in November 2011, and has been well received by Zipcar members in the pilot markets of San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Toronto and Washington, DC, with over 12,000 Zipvan trips taken to date.

"We love the convenience of having Zipvans parked close to our offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Washington DC, which makes it easy to deliver flower arrangements and plants to our customers," said Bryan Burkhart, CEO and Co-Founder, H. Bloom. "Zipvan makes good business sense because we only pay for a van when we need to use it, and Zipvan won't cost me an hour of an employee's time driving to a remote location or waiting in line at a rental counter."

Through the Zipvan service, Zipcar offers Ford E-150 full size cargo vans with up-front seats and over 230 cubic feet of cargo space that allow members to transport items that are too bulky for ordinary vehicles. The vans are available for hourly or daily use, and rates include gas, insurance, roadside assistance and up to 180 miles of driving per day.

The all-inclusive low hourly rates on Zipvan vehicles can help individuals, small businesses and community non-profits reduce their costs of transporting goods and supplies. For more information, visit www.zipvan.com.

About Zipcar

Zipcar is the world's leading car sharing network with more than 730,000 members and 11,000 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain and Austria. Zipcar offers more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to residents and businesses looking for an alternative to the high costs and hassles of owning a car. More information is available at www.zipcar.com. Photos and b-roll footage are also available for media purposes.

Zipcar, Zipvan and the Zipcar logo are trademarks of Zipcar, Inc.

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, including statements with respect to the planned rollout of the Zipvan service in other markets. Among the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include our ability to attract new members and retain existing customers, adverse economic conditions in general and adverse economic conditions specifically affecting the markets in which we operates, and our ability to maintain high levels of member satisfaction and loyalty with respect to this new offering and otherwise and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements reflect our expectations only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as reflecting our views, expectations or beliefs at any date subsequent to the date of this release.

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SOURCE Zipcar

For further information: Colleen McCormick, +1-617-336-4342, [email protected]