Automotive powerhouses BMW and Daimler have announced a joint venture where they will share services and experience to create a game-changing move into the urban mobility market.
The two German manufacturers are investing €1bn (US$1.13bn) in total to develop five joint ventures for offerings for carsharing, ride hailing, parking, charging and multimodal transportation including self-driving vehicles.
“We are creating a leading global game changer. The 60 million customers we already have today will benefit from a seamlessly integrated, sustainable ecosystem of carsharing, ride hailing, parking, charging and multimodal transport services. We have a clear vision: these five services will merge ever more closely to form a single mobility service portfolio with an all-electric, self-driving fleet of vehicles that charge and park autonomously and interconnect with the other modes of transport,” said Harald Krüger, management board chairman of BMW AG.
The five joint ventures include
• Reach Now: apps that offer a range of transportation options;
• Charge Now: a service to make public charge points quick and easy to locate;
• Park Now: a digital parking service that offers users the best possible parking solution, allowing them to reserve and pay for them via cashless payments;
• Free Now: an offering of mobility services including taxis, private chauffeurs and e-scooters;
• Share Now: a carsharing service that allows users to rent vehicles by smartphone.
In a press release the company stated, “Over time, customers will be able to use and experience additional mobility options from all-electric autonomous fleets that are available on demand, charge and park themselves, and connect with other modes of transport beyond road and rail.”
