Zipcar Proposes UK Shutdown by End of 2025

Zipcar, the US-based car-sharing service, has proposed shutting down its operations in the United Kingdom by the end of 2025, suspending new bookings after December 31 while initiating a formal consultation with its employees.

The announcement came in an email to customers from James Taylor, general manager of Zipcar UK. "I'm writing to let you know that we are proposing to cease the UK operations of Zipcar and have today started formal consultation with our UK employees," Taylor wrote. "We will temporarily suspend bookings, pending the outcome of this consultation. This means it will not be possible to make any new bookings beyond 31 December 2025, pending the outcome of the consultation." Customer accounts will remain active until a final decision, allowing existing reservations to proceed through the end of next year. Bookings extending into 2026 will be refunded, with cancellation fees waived, and members can expect prorated refunds for active plans once the consultation concludes.

The move affects Zipcar's roughly 650,000 UK members, many of whom rely on the service for short-term rentals of cars and vans by the minute, hour or day via a mobile app. In London, where the...