Daimler, BMW team up to challenge Uber
NEWS
German car makers Daimler and BMW have unveiled a joint ridehailing, parking and electric vehicle (EV) charging business to compete with mobility services provided by Uber and other tech firms.
The luxury car companies said they would invest more than €1bn (R15.7bn) to expand the joint venture, shifting beyond manufacturing and car sales towards pay-per-minute or pay-per-mile systems.
Consultancy PwC has said car makers face marginalisation by cash-rich technology firms unless they develop services based on vehicle usage.
Established ride-hailing firms have been expanding. China’s Didi Chuxing aims to build its business in Latin America and Uber is gaining a stranglehold on its US market.
“Further co-operation with other providers, including stakes in startups and established players, are also a possible option,” Daimler’s CEO Dieter Zetsche said.
COMBINED
Daimler’s Car2Go car-sharing brand will be combined with BMW’s DriveNow, ParkNow and ChargeNow businesses, with both car makers holding a 50% stake in the venture.
The venture has five strands: REACH NOW, a smartphonebased route management and booking service, CHARGE NOW for electric car charging, FREE NOW for taxi ride-hailing, PARK NOW for parking services and SHARE NOW for car-sharing.
“These services will merge to form a single mobility service portfolio with an all-electric, self-driving fleet of vehicles that charge and park autonomously,” said BMW CEO Harald Krüger.
BMW and Daimler are working to develop autonomous vehicles, which could enable them to upend the market for taxi and ride-hailing services.