From the withdrawal from the North American market in 2019 to the current shortage of electronic components for their fleets, the BMW and Mercedes groups have taken the decision to sell their car-sharing service Share Now. Across the Rhine, it was until now considered as the rival brand of Stellantis. An agreement subject to the approval of the competition authorities, of which it is “agreed not to disclose the details of the transaction”. But it is clearly good business for all three groups.
A desire to refocus for BMW and Mercedes Benz
Known for selling vehicles, these two German automotive giants are no longer hiding their desire to find new sources of revenue. As said by Rainer Feurer, Head of Corporate Investments at the BMW Group, “The new focus allows us to grow our business faster and thus achieve more profitable growth in the shortest possible time. The focus is on the deployment of mobility applications.
Namely, Charge Now, an application for reserving charging stations. But also Free Now, a multimodal application offering VTC, scooter, bicycle and scooter services, etc. With the mission “to encourage users to change their habits in order to have a positive impact on cities and communities, by providing them with sustainable and shared mobility options without adding extra vehicles to the roads. A varied offer available in over 100 cities in Europe, allowing them to be recognised today as a Mobility Super-App (MaaS). We had written the case study below on this subject.
How can automakers reinvent themselves with MaaS?
A real boost for Stellantis
Resulting from the fusion between Peugeot and Fiat-Chrysler, the French group Stellantis has just made a real coup. In particular with its car-sharing service, Free2move.
Indeed, as stated by Brigitte Courtehoux, Free2move’s managing director, “Share Now is a key acceleration of our model and this agreement strengthens Free2move’s position as a major player in international mobility, adding 14 major European cities to those already covered and 10,000 vehicles to the fleet of 2,500 cars currently available.” This expansion will also involve its customer base, with more than 3.4 million new customers.
This acquisition enabled Stellantis shares on the Paris stock exchange to rise by 2% on Tuesday morning. As a reminder, last year Free2move achieved a turnover of 40 million euros. The company has been profitable since mid-2020. Following this takeover, it hopes to achieve its objectives of €700 million in revenue by 2025. This will be followed by €2.8 billion in 2030.
