German automakers BMW and Daimler have agreed to merge their respective mobility services business units into a joint venture (JV) in which each company will hold a 50% stake.
The agreement will bring together the companies’ operations in areas including multimodal and on-demand mobility, carsharing, ride-hailing, parking, and charging.
The two companies will, however, remain competitors in their respective core businesses.
BMW and Daimler plan to offer their customers a holistic ecosystem of intelligent connected mobility services.
By working as partners, the two companies will address the challenges of urban mobility and changing customer preferences..
The merger will promote electromobility by offering electrified CarSharing vehicles along with access to charging and parking services.
BMW board of management chairman Harald Krüger said: “The BMW Group is shaping future mobility – and striking out in new directions to do so. Our Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT provides the BMW Group with a roadmap to a digital and emission-free future.
“Combining our mobility services as planned will create a unique digital ecosystem. This alliance will make it easier for our customers to discover the emission-free mobility of the future. We remain competitors when it comes to the best premium vehicles. The planned merger of our mobility services will pool our resources and sends a strong signal to our new competitors.”
The two companies will use their expertise and experience in developing sustainable ecosystem for urban mobility.
The JV will combine multimodal and on-demand mobility with moovel and ReachNow; CarSharing with Car2Go and DriveNow; Ride-Hailing with mytaxi, Chauffeur Privé, Clever Taxi and Beat; Parking with ParkNow and Parkmobile Group/Parkmobile; Charging with ChargeNow and Digital Charging Solutions.
Daimler chairman of the board of management Dieter Zetsche said: “As pioneers in automotive engineering, we will not leave the task of shaping future urban mobility to others. There will be more people than ever before without a car who will still want to be extremely mobile. We want to combine our expertise and experience to develop a unique, sustainable ecosystem for urban mobility.”
