Status: 03.05.2022 09:47 a.m
BMW and Mercedes-Benz are selling their joint car-sharing subsidiary “Share Now” to the Franco-Italian car group Stellantis. Through the sale they want to have more funds for other projects.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz want to sell their car-sharing service called “Share Now” to their competitor Stellantis. The two German car manufacturers announced that a declaration of intent had recently been signed. It was agreed not to disclose any details. Stellantis, the parent company of brands such as Fiat, Chrysler, Peugeot and Opel, can expand the range of its mobility subsidiary Free2move with the acquisition. The antitrust authorities still have to approve the sale.
“Share Now” is the largest European provider of station-independent car sharing. The company is represented in 16 European cities with around 11,000 vehicles and claims to have around 3.4 million customers. A sale had been speculated for a long time.
Joint venture “Your Now” not very successful
BMW and Mercedes-Benz merged their mobility services business in 2019 to form the “Your Now” joint venture. These include the car-sharing service provider Share Now, the taxi and ridesharing agency Free Now and the charging station platform Charge Now. In the same year, the company announced that it would be leaving the North American business. In March 2021, the two partners sold the parking app “Park Now” to the Swedish competitor Easypark. The mobility app “Reach Now” has been discontinued.
The sale of “Share Now” enables Mercedes-Benz and BMW to now focus more on the ride-sharing and charging station brokers. With the “Free Now” app, users can combine different means of transport, from electric bicycles to car sharing cars. Local public transport is also being increasingly integrated. “Charge Now” brings drivers of electric cars and charging station operators together and, according to the company, now covers 85 percent of charging offers in Europe.