In a car-sharing co-operative, members own a number of cars collectively instead of each owning a vehicle separately. Car-sharing allows members for forego the large personal expense of owning and maintaining a private car, while enjoying access to a car when needed.

Car co-ops have long been popular in some Western European countries, and have started to catch on in the U.S. and Canada in recent years. They can vary in size from a few friends sharing a car to tens of thousands of members sharing a large fleet of vehicles.