Always rivals, BMW and Daimler seal their alliance in transport on demand and car-sharing. The two German manufacturers officially launched Friday in Berlin a joint venture which brings together their mobility services in order to compete with groups like Didi Lyft or Uber.
“We were always talking more and finding out that we could combine our strengths to become a champion,” said BMW boss Harald Krüger on Friday. the operation announced last year received the green light from competition authorities.
Urbanization and autonomous car
The two manufacturers have announced an investment of more than one billion euros in this alliance actually made up of five joint ventures they hold in equal shares: a car-sharing service (formerly Car2go and DriveNow merged under the name Share Now), a route management service (Reach Now), another one that allows you to find a charging point for an electric vehicle (Charge Now), to reserve a parking space (Park Now) or to call on a taxi or other type of transport on demand (Free Now). Services, which threaten the core business of BMW and Daimler, but which will play a vital role with the evolution of the relationship with the car and the rise of the electric and autonomous car.
If BMW had the advantage over electrical charging points and parking, Daimler, Mercedes’ parent company, had a leg up on the VTC, summed up the leader of Daimler Dieter Zetsche, who speaks of “complementary strengths”. The two groups do not exclude acquiring startups or established actors.
60 million users
In the face of competition from American or Chinese giants like EV Card, Uber or Lyft, BMW and Daimler consider themselves in a strong position with around 60 million active users (for a turnover EUR 3 billion combined) and, in addition to their automotive know-how, put their trust in their customers’ data management.
The new entity, which will create up to 1,000 new jobs in the world, will be based in Berlin: the German start-up capital has imposed itself against Stuttgart and Munich, strongholds of Daimler and BMW, located in the south from the country.