BMW and Daimler have shut down their DriveNow car-sharing in North America and the UK, amid rising costs and a lack of interest.
According to BMW CEO Oliver Zipse and Daimler Chairman Ola Kallenius, the cost of switching over to cleaner forms of transport, such as electric vehicle manufacturing, is far too high to allow any more investment into the car-sharing venture.
The German automakers first collaborated on the project back in February and, at the time, said they would invest over $1 billion into five businesses; one being ShareNow, which brought together Daimler’s Car2Go and BMW’s DriveNow.
This is a huge setback in the companies’ goal to launch mobility services in 90 cities by the end of 2019.
In addition, the ShareNow brand will also leave the North American market, before pulling out of European cities such as Brussels, London and Florence due to a lack of demand.
However, DriveNow and Car2Go will still operate in 18 European cities, including seven in Germany.
Has the mobility bubble finally burst?
