BMW and Daimler invest €1 billion in Uber rival

BMW and Daimler invest €1 billion in joint mobility services provider

BMW and Daimler are pooling their mobility services to create a new global player providing sustainable urban mobility for customers. The two companies are investing more than €1 billion in total to develop and more closely intermesh their offerings for car-sharing, ride-hailing, parking, charging and multimodal transport.

The cooperation comprises five joint ventures: Reach Now for multimodal services, Charge Now for charging, Free Now for taxi ride-hailing, Park Now for parking and Share Now for car-sharing.

The two companies’ mobility services have a wealth of experience and a strong customer base, with a combined total of over 60 million active customers to date. Building on their current, highly attractive product range and robust costumer base in the key regions of Europe and America, the companies will grow their global footprint as their existing mobility services combine to form five joint ventures.

Reach Now, Charge Now, Free Now, Park Now and Share Now represent innovative solutions by BMW and Daimler for cities and municipalities seeking to make their traffic more efficient and sustainable. Thanks to their established services, the joint venture group already commands significant resources to support and systematically enhance sustainable urban mobility.

The new mobility portfolio will be easy to access, intuitive to use, and will cater to customers’ needs. Its seamlessly integrated, sustainable ecosystem will make mobility more convenient - because cities are where the future of mobility will be decided. This is confirmed by the choice of Berlin as the base for the organization’s headquarters. A hub of creativity and innovation, the German capital is an attractive location for employees and upcoming talents. The next few years will see up to 1,000 new jobs created worldwide - including in Berlin and Germany. After an initial phase of investment and growth, the new joint venture group will offer attractive profitability, which will be crucial to its success.

With their joint mobility services, BMW and Daimler are responding to mobility needs of today and the future with a focus on cities. Digitalization is a key enabler as it creates new opportunities for individual mobility. 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. In the competition for the best urban mobility solution, the promise of safety and comfort by the two leading German premium OEMs provides the basis for this to happen.

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