BMW and Daimler to invest Euro 1 billion in mobility services (renting, sharing, parking etc.)

blackwasp · 25th February 2019, 22:34

Last year, BMW and Daimler had announced a joint venture for mobility services. Now, both companies will invest Euro 1 billion to develop and integrate their car sharing, ride hailing, parking, charging and intermodal transport divisions. The respective joint ventures will be called as SHARE NOW, FREE NOW, PARK NOW, CHARGE NOW and REACH NOW.

In the future, both companies plan to merge all the above entities into a single mobility service provider with an all-electric, self-driven vehicle fleet that can charge and park autonomously and integrate with other forms of transport. The cooperation is expected to increase both the companies’ chances in a growing market by sharing investment costs.

SHARE NOW allows customers to rent and pay for vehicles via a smartphone. At present there are 20,000 vehicles deployed across 31 cities across the world. Over 4 million customers have claimed to have used the service so far. Olivier Reppert has been appointed as the CEO while Stefan Glebke will be the CFO.

FREE NOW offers services like taxi, private chauffeurs with rental vehicles and e-scooters across Europe and Latin America. It has a 21 million strong customer base with 2,50,000 drivers enrolled with them. FREE NOW is led by Marc Berg as the CEO, along with Sebastian Hofelich as the CFO.

PARK NOW is a digital parking service that allows users to reserve spots, manage parking times, allows ticketless entry and exit in garages as well as pay fees. It is currently active across 1100 cities in Eurpoe and North America.

CHARGE NOW is a service by Digital Charging Solutions GmbH, which has a network of public charging points. It has 1,00,000 points across 25 countries and has over 250 charge point operators enrolled with them. CHARGE NOW and PARK NOW are headed by Jörg Reimann as CEO, with Thomas Menzel as CFO.

REACH NOW offers a direct access to mobility services like car sharing, ride hailing and bike rentals. There are over 6.7 million users who can book and pay directly for public transport as well. REACH NOW will be managed by Daniela Gerd tom Markotten as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), with Johannes Prantl as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

BMW and Daimler to invest Euro 1 billion in mobility services (renting, sharing, parking etc.)-bmwmerc.jpeg

Link to the Team-BHP News

GTO · 26th February 2019, 08:30

That's a huge commitment and is directly rivaling Uber (among others). Not only is the starting investment huge, but the fact that Mercedes + BMW are collaborating is in itself a big deal. Clearly, both of them are concerned about the changing automotive landscape and don't want to end up as bystanders.

That said, I'm not too optimistic. Rarely have the big, bloated, bureaucratic & old-school manufacturers ever done well with a new consumer-level service like this. Plus, this will be just one of the hundred things they do (unlike Uber which has a sniper-like focus on ride hailing).

vaasscit · 1st March 2019, 12:36

BMW and Daimler to invest Euro 1 billion in mobility services (renting, sharing, parking etc.)-imageuploadedbyteambhp1551423668.772631.jpg

BMW and Daimler to invest Euro 1 billion in mobility services (renting, sharing, parking etc.)-imageuploadedbyteambhp1551423683.988632.jpg

BMW and Daimler to invest Euro 1 billion in mobility services (renting, sharing, parking etc.)-imageuploadedbyteambhp1551423695.888451.jpg

BMW and Daimler to invest Euro 1 billion in mobility services (renting, sharing, parking etc.)-imageuploadedbyteambhp1551423705.619454.jpg

BMW and Daimler to invest Euro 1 billion in mobility services (renting, sharing, parking etc.)-imageuploadedbyteambhp1551423714.952812.jpg

Screenshot of Twitter exchanges between BMW & Daimler

Looks like BMW & Daimler would expand their collaboration to self driving car technology as well.

IMO, I see this as an measure by Germany (probably Govt is also involved in some level) to ensure the German Automotive Industry stays competitive with more tech companies from USA trying to get into mobility business (Self driving car & Shared car)

Maybe they'd like to do an Airbus in the Automotive industry.

How times change ? Once arch rivals now business partners !

25th February 2019, 22:34	#1
blackwasp Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Pune Posts: 2,992 Thanked: 26,468 Times View My Garage	BMW and Daimler to invest Euro 1 billion in mobility services (renting, sharing, parking etc.) Last year, BMW and Daimler had announced a joint venture for mobility services. Now, both companies will invest Euro 1 billion to develop and integrate their car sharing, ride hailing, parking, charging and intermodal transport divisions. The respective joint ventures will be called as SHARE NOW, FREE NOW, PARK NOW, CHARGE NOW and REACH NOW. In the future, both companies plan to merge all the above entities into a single mobility service provider with an all-electric, self-driven vehicle fleet that can charge and park autonomously and integrate with other forms of transport. The cooperation is expected to increase both the companies’ chances in a growing market by sharing investment costs. SHARE NOW allows customers to rent and pay for vehicles via a smartphone. At present there are 20,000 vehicles deployed across 31 cities across the world. Over 4 million customers have claimed to have used the service so far. Olivier Reppert has been appointed as the CEO while Stefan Glebke will be the CFO. FREE NOW offers services like taxi, private chauffeurs with rental vehicles and e-scooters across Europe and Latin America. It has a 21 million strong customer base with 2,50,000 drivers enrolled with them. FREE NOW is led by Marc Berg as the CEO, along with Sebastian Hofelich as the CFO. PARK NOW is a digital parking service that allows users to reserve spots, manage parking times, allows ticketless entry and exit in garages as well as pay fees. It is currently active across 1100 cities in Eurpoe and North America. CHARGE NOW is a service by Digital Charging Solutions GmbH, which has a network of public charging points. It has 1,00,000 points across 25 countries and has over 250 charge point operators enrolled with them. CHARGE NOW and PARK NOW are headed by Jörg Reimann as CEO, with Thomas Menzel as CFO. REACH NOW offers a direct access to mobility services like car sharing, ride hailing and bike rentals. There are over 6.7 million users who can book and pay directly for public transport as well. REACH NOW will be managed by Daniela Gerd tom Markotten as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), with Johannes Prantl as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Link to the Team-BHP News Last edited by blackwasp : 25th February 2019 at 22:37.
	(3) Thanks

26th February 2019, 08:30	#2
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 71,568 Thanked: 310,016 Times View My Garage	re: BMW and Daimler to invest Euro 1 billion in mobility services (renting, sharing, parking etc.) That's a huge commitment and is directly rivaling Uber (among others). Not only is the starting investment huge, but the fact that Mercedes + BMW are collaborating is in itself a big deal. Clearly, both of them are concerned about the changing automotive landscape and don't want to end up as bystanders. That said, I'm not too optimistic. Rarely have the big, bloated, bureaucratic & old-school manufacturers ever done well with a new consumer-level service like this. Plus, this will be just one of the hundred things they do (unlike Uber which has a sniper-like focus on ride hailing).
	(1) Thanks

1st March 2019, 12:36	#3
vaasscit BHPian Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Madras Posts: 200 Thanked: 386 Times	Screenshot of Twitter exchanges between BMW & Daimler Looks like BMW & Daimler would expand their collaboration to self driving car technology as well. IMO, I see this as an measure by Germany (probably Govt is also involved in some level) to ensure the German Automotive Industry stays competitive with more tech companies from USA trying to get into mobility business (Self driving car & Shared car) Maybe they'd like to do an Airbus in the Automotive industry. How times change ? Once arch rivals now business partners !
	() Thanks