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Daimler's Car Sharing Services Now Have 23 Million Customers

At least two major German automakers, BMW and Daimler, are betting big on the future of mobility services. The two are so confident about the prospects that three months ago they did the unthinkable and partnered for the creation of a joint company to take over this emerging industry.
Daimler strikes gold with mobility services 1 photo
Photo: Daimler
The move seems to have paid off, as on Wednesday Daimler announced that it’s three main mobility companies, car2go, moovel, and mytaxi, have a combined, record-breaking 22.9 million customers worldwide.

The number is huge, but what’s more impressive is that the nearly 23 million clients registered in May 2018 represent an increase of 88 percent compared to the number posted for the same period of last year.

Considering that, and the fact that car2go is available in only a limited number of cities, the prospects for growth are greater than anyone can really imagine.

Earlier this week, Daimler announced it is expanding its operation in the U.S., with Chicago becoming the seventh location in the country.

"Close to 23 million customers today rely on our mobility services. This growth clearly demonstrates that we are delighting new customers with our services worldwide,” said in a statement Bodo Uebber, the head of Daimler’s financial services.

“With the announcement of a planned joint venture with BMW, we are taking a further step toward strategic bundling and efficiency of our services. We expect our mobility services to further complement metropolises and future smart cities."

The joint venture with BMW is expected to bring an impressive cash flow, as it will target everything from on-demand mobility to electric vehicle charging. In one sweep move, BMW and Daimler have become competitors to Uber, Tesla, and pretty much every cab and car sharing company in the world.

Both BMW and Daimler would own 50 percent of the new joint venture, with car2go and DriveNow targeting car sharing companies with a total of 20,000 vehicles in 31 major international cities.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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