Mercedes & BMW might merge car-sharing services

Mercedes' parent company - Daimler, and BMW are reportedly planning to merge their car-sharing services to pose a potent competition to Uber. If these reports do come out to be true, BMW's DriveNow and Daimler's Car2Go will operate on a shared platform, though they are likely to retain their individual brand identities.

BMW started DriveNow under a jointventure with Sixt in 2011. On the other hand, Daimler's Car2Go was founded back in 2008. However, despite being operational for a fairly long period, both these car-sharing services haven't managed to pose a considerable threat to the US-based ride-hailing service company - Uber. Acknowledging that ride-sharing services will influence the future of automotive industry, both Mercedes and BMW appear to be interested in making a mark in this domain, and have thus reportedly decided to join hands to offer a competitive alternative to Uber.

Currently, Daimler's Car2Go has 14,000 vehicles operating globally, while BMW's DriveNow operates around 5,390 vehicles in Europe.

Media reports have further mentioned that the two companies are also contemplating on adding more of their services to the joint venture. These services include Daimler's Mytaxi cab agent and Moovel internet platform, and BMW's ParkNow and ChargeNow brands.

Source: CarScoops