Solidarity buying groups (Gas) are a well-established formula, present throughout the country. A different way of shopping and being a consumer. More conscious, sustainable and ethical.

So why not apply this kind of experience to the purchase of less polluting cars with new technologies, and try to get a discount at the time of purchase? That is what two regular Gas participants, Gianalfredo Furini and Luca Dal Sillaro, asked themselves about three years ago.

Toyota Yaris Hybrid

And so the first hybrid car buying group (Gai) was born, allowing the first participants to purchase — all from the same dealership — 16 hybrid cars at a 20 per cent discount on the list price.

"From that moment we got the idea of sharing our experience and creating a dedicated website to form new buying groups," says Gianalfredo Furini, one of the Gai's founders. "From that point on the group grew exponentially, eventually creating 8 buying groups that have purchased more than 330 hybrid cars from the Toyota range."

Toyota Auris Hybrid

How it works. The first experiences led many users to discover hybrid cars. The group collects registrations of interest, contacts various dealerships willing to supply discounted vehicles — around 22 per cent for a Yaris and 23 per cent for an Auris — and handles all the paperwork for the purchase. Buyers can choose their preferred colour and optional extras, can access financing and can trade in their used car.

"The initiative works in everyone's favour," Furini continues. "It works for buyers, because they manage to save amounts that would be hard to achieve individually. For dealerships, because they sell a large number of vehicles in one go. And it works for the environment because we take older, more polluting cars off the roads."

Nissan Leaf

It works for electric cars too. In the meantime, collaborations have expanded — for example with eV Now, a private body for research, development and promotion of electric mobility, and with Altroconsumo. Despite the difficulties encountered in 2014, following the successful purchase of around ten electric cars, this year the Gai has started afresh by contacting another electric vehicle manufacturer: "We recently opened a new buying group with Nissan, for the purchase of the Leaf and the e-NV2000 electric van. I think that in a short time we could already have proposals and purchase discounts. To date there are around ten people seriously interested in buying."

The Gai thus becomes a tool for sharing. Sharing the values that make mobility sustainable. Sharing the opportunities available to consumers driven by similar aims.