Photo: BMW
Formed in 2011 as a car-sharing joint venture between the BMW Group and Sixt SE, DriveNow has today become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group. The move is part of the German company's drive to become one of Europe's biggest on-demand mobility companies.
Today, DriveNow has more than one million customers spread in 13 European cities, in the west part of the continent. The service uses BMW and MINI models and works rather as a car-sharing company than the taxi-inspired Uber service.
The main difference between the two services is that as far car sharing is concerned the client is also the driver. They only have to pick up and drop the cars at specific locations, being at the same time a great way for a carmaker to advertise its vehicles.
According to BMW, last year DriveNow customers drove eight million kilometers (5 million miles) with its electric fleet, the equivalent of going around the globe 200 times.
With the acquisition of the full stake in the car-sharing company, BMW plans to expand further its NUMBER ONE > NEXT corporate strategy and to provide further services in on-demand mobility, parking and charging, setting a 100 million customers target by 2025.
“Our aim is to win 100 million customers for our premium mobility services by 2025. With DriveNow as a wholly-owned subsidiary, we have all options for continued strategic development of our services in our hands. Our experience with mobility services supports our development of future autonomous, electrified and connected fleets,” said Peter Schwarzenbauer, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG.
It is unclear whether BMW plans to reach that goal alone, or with the help of Daimler. Last week, yet unconfirmed rumors surfaced of a possible merger between DriveNow and car2go, Daimler's car-sharing service. Notably, car2go is a service also present not only in Europe, but also North America and China.
The main difference between the two services is that as far car sharing is concerned the client is also the driver. They only have to pick up and drop the cars at specific locations, being at the same time a great way for a carmaker to advertise its vehicles.
According to BMW, last year DriveNow customers drove eight million kilometers (5 million miles) with its electric fleet, the equivalent of going around the globe 200 times.
With the acquisition of the full stake in the car-sharing company, BMW plans to expand further its NUMBER ONE > NEXT corporate strategy and to provide further services in on-demand mobility, parking and charging, setting a 100 million customers target by 2025.
“Our aim is to win 100 million customers for our premium mobility services by 2025. With DriveNow as a wholly-owned subsidiary, we have all options for continued strategic development of our services in our hands. Our experience with mobility services supports our development of future autonomous, electrified and connected fleets,” said Peter Schwarzenbauer, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG.
It is unclear whether BMW plans to reach that goal alone, or with the help of Daimler. Last week, yet unconfirmed rumors surfaced of a possible merger between DriveNow and car2go, Daimler's car-sharing service. Notably, car2go is a service also present not only in Europe, but also North America and China.
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