Car-sharing platform Socar is expanding into insurance. Socar said on Monday it signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with AXA General Insurance for cooperation on data-based insurance product development and new business.

Under the agreement, Socar will sell AXA General Insurance's driver and travel insurance directly within the Socar app. Users will be able to handle everything from vehicle reservations to insurance sign-ups in one place without a separate app. The companies aim to launch in the second half of this year and plan to expand product offerings sequentially. They will also work together to improve operational efficiency, including accident assessments, to boost profitability for both companies.

The agreement is the first execution of Socar's growth strategy, 'SOCAR The NEXT,' which the company announced in May. The plan expands its scope from car sharing to subscriptions and vehicle commerce, adding insurance and finance to build a structure that handles the full vehicle-use process on one platform. On June 4, Socar added 12 business purposes, including insurance agency and brokerage, to its articles of incorporation at an extraordinary general meeting, laying the groundwork for the move.

The companies will also jointly study tailored insurance using driving data and safe-driving scores accumulated from operating about 25,000 vehicles. They will also proactively develop new insurance models to prepare for changes in accident liability and coverage structures as autonomous driving is commercialised.

Socar CEO Jae-wook Park (박재욱) said, "Insurance is an indispensable area in the vehicle-use process, so we focused on making it more convenient for customers." He said, "By combining Socar's mobility data with AXA General Insurance's expertise, we will provide insurance more easily and reasonably tailored to customers' driving patterns, and we will also prepare new insurance models for the autonomous-driving era."