Photo: Daimler
This December, the tie-up between German Daimler and Chinese Geely will expand far beyond the financial entanglements that have made the headlines recently, and will take on a more lucrative approach:. the two have announced the start of operations of a mobility joint venture in Geely’s home town, Hangzhou.
The business the two will be running together is described as premium ride-hailing. Loosely translated, that means a taxi service with luxury cars and trained drivers, powered by an iOS or Android app for the customers. The service is called StarRides.
For the time being, Daimler will deploy 100 of its vehicles (mainly S-Class, E-Class and V-Class) to the city, to be shared by premium customers. They will be driven by trained chauffeurs, “uniformly and neatly dressed.”
“Premium ride-hailing is an essential element in our mobility ecosystem ranging from multi-year financing contracts to flexible leasing, car rental and subscription models to on-demand mobility,” said in a statement Joerg Lamparter, board member Daimler Mobility AG for Digital & Mobility Solutions.
“With Geely Technology Group, we have found an excellent partner to expand our mobility ecosystem in China. StarRides will play a significant role in addressing customer needs in the premium ride-hailing segment and solidifying our strong position in the mobility market.”
In recent years, Daimler has found the mobility solutions sector to be particularly appealing. So much so that, in a move that shocked this particular industry, it joined forces in 2018 with rival BMW.
The joint venture created by the two, this time focused on car-sharing, is planned to have a fleet of 20,000 vehicles deployed in 31 major international cities, effectively making it the largest player on the market, with some 23 million customers in between them.
The operations were supposed to begin in the early months of 2019, and a roll-out of joint services has already begun.
For the time being, Daimler will deploy 100 of its vehicles (mainly S-Class, E-Class and V-Class) to the city, to be shared by premium customers. They will be driven by trained chauffeurs, “uniformly and neatly dressed.”
“Premium ride-hailing is an essential element in our mobility ecosystem ranging from multi-year financing contracts to flexible leasing, car rental and subscription models to on-demand mobility,” said in a statement Joerg Lamparter, board member Daimler Mobility AG for Digital & Mobility Solutions.
“With Geely Technology Group, we have found an excellent partner to expand our mobility ecosystem in China. StarRides will play a significant role in addressing customer needs in the premium ride-hailing segment and solidifying our strong position in the mobility market.”
In recent years, Daimler has found the mobility solutions sector to be particularly appealing. So much so that, in a move that shocked this particular industry, it joined forces in 2018 with rival BMW.
The joint venture created by the two, this time focused on car-sharing, is planned to have a fleet of 20,000 vehicles deployed in 31 major international cities, effectively making it the largest player on the market, with some 23 million customers in between them.
The operations were supposed to begin in the early months of 2019, and a roll-out of joint services has already begun.
Google News