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BMW and Mercedes-Benz to Sell Their Car-Sharing Joint Venture Share Now to Stellantis

Car sharing, although a bright idea, has seen a difficult adoption, especially in the light of the pandemic restrictions. With more clouds on the horizon, we see how the companies will try to consolidate their car-sharing operations. This is why BMW Group and Mercedes-Benz Mobility have signed an agreement to sell their jointly operated Share Now car-sharing division to Stellantis.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz to sell their car-sharing joint venture Share Now to Stellantis 6 photos
Photo: BMW Group
BMW and Mercedes-Benz to sell their car-sharing joint venture Share Now to StellantisBMW and Mercedes-Benz to sell their car-sharing joint venture Share Now to StellantisBMW and Mercedes-Benz to sell their car-sharing joint venture Share Now to StellantisBMW and Mercedes-Benz to sell their car-sharing joint venture Share Now to StellantisBMW and Mercedes-Benz to sell their car-sharing joint venture Share Now to Stellantis
The decision must’ve been painful, as Mercedes-Benz Mobility was a car-sharing pioneer with its car2go subsidiary. The swabs joined forces with BMW, which owned the DriveNow platform. The two services merged in 2019 under the Share Now brand, which eventually spawned two more businesses, Free Now and Charge Now.

Share Now has seen rough waters since the very beginning, and it withdrew from the North American market soon after its founding in 2019. According to Automotive News, this move was a consequence of high maintenance costs and what the companies then described as the “volatile state of the global mobility landscape.” It was a smart move, too, when considering the restrictions during the pandemic years.

Only Share Now is the subject of the sale agreement with Stellantis, as the other two branches are considered instrumental to BMW’s and Mercedes-Benz’s future. The offloading of Share Now would allow the two companies to focus on the two business areas with the highest potential to grow: digital multi-mobility (Free Now) and digital services related to the charging of electric vehicles (Charge Now).

Of course, being a transaction, it means there is also a receiver that sees potential precisely in what the two companies consider a liability these days. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, they say, and this couldn’t be more true for this deal: Stellantis will see his car-sharing business Free2move bustling.

The acquisition will add more than 3.4 million customers to its 2 million base along with 14 major European cities and 10,000 vehicles to Free2move’s existing car-sharing fleet of 2,500 vehicles. With the acquisition of Share Now, Stellantis’ Free2move will become one of the global leaders in shared mobility. The company aims to expand the company worldwide to 15 million active users by 2030.
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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