A PSA Group car sharing scheme has triggered the first phase of its ten-year “Push to Pass” plan to begin the sale of cars in the US.

Starting its operations at Los Angeles Airport this month, the Free2Move scheme has been born out of a partnership with Travelcar, a start-up founded in 2012, and is being headed-up by autonomous car specialist Larry Dominique.

Dominique has around 30 years’ experience in autonomous cars and is a former employee of General Motors, Nissan and, most recently, serving as president of Automotive Lease Guide (ALG) and Executive Vice President of TrueCar.

The Free2Move scheme starts in Los Angeles, ahead of a wider roll-out across the US, and will develop mobility solutions with PSA Group cars in its next phase, a PSA Group statement revealed.

Direct marketing of the vehicles across North America will follow.

Carlos Tavares, chairman of PSA Group’s Managing Board, said: “With the creation of the PSA North American entity, PSA Group makes an important step forward in the roll-out of our project to progressively enter the region.

“Moving forward, we will ramp up our mobility activities and the development of car-sharing services, among other efforts. Today we start with our partner TravelCar.”

PSA’s Push to Pass growth plan aims to deliver 10% group revenue growth by 2018, versus 2015, and an additional 15% by 2021.

Free2Move is designed to optimise cars ensuring they rarely go unused, providing advantageous solutions to car owners.

It claims to offer free or advantageous-price parking in addition to a saving over an equivalent rental vehicle price of around 50%.

The scheme was launched in the UK during January through a merger of Citroën Contract Motoring and Peugeot Contract Hire.

The PSA North American entity reports to PSA Group’s Corporate Planning and Programs, led by executive vice president Patrice Lucas.