Stellantis is set to buy the Share Now car-sharing joint venture from Mercedes and BMW.
The three companies recently signed a deal to hand over control of the joint venture but decided to keep the details confidential.
Stellantis wants to use the Free Now acquisition to help accelerate the growth of its Free2Move mobility business, adding 14 new European cities and 10,000 vehicles to its offering.
“Integrating Share Now’s strong position in major European cities will allow our customers to gain greater access to a wider range of services to satisfy their varied mobility needs,” said Brigitte Courtehoux, Free2move CEO.
“Equally important, this acquisition will also accelerate our profitable growth. We are now a step closer to achieving our goal of expanding Free2move’s worldwide presence to 15 million active users by 2030.”
Courtehoux also added that while the Free2Move fleet would not immediately turn to 100% Stellantis vehicles, drivers would start seeing increasing numbers of Stellantis cars in the coming months.
For BMW and Mercedes, on the other hand, the sale allows them to focus on the Free Now app, which lets users book cars, taxis, e-scooters, and e-bikes as well as EV charger booking app Charge Now.
“Although Mercedes-Benz will focus more strongly on its core business in the luxury segment, car sharing will remain an important part of urban mobility and an essential element in the mobility offer at FREE NOW. With FREE NOW and CHARGE NOW, we are focusing on two growth segments that will continue to offer our customers the entire range of mobility services in the future and support the expansion of electric mobility,” said Gero Götzenberger, Director of Strategy and Investments at Mercedes-Benz Mobility.
The deal, rather than showing a failure of the Share Now business reflects a realignment in BMW and Mercedes’ business aims. The two luxury car companies will likely want to retain the relative exclusivity of their brands, while Stellantis will probably look to make its cars available to as many European and American drivers as possible.
