Munich/Stuttgart – Following the successful launch of
the YOUR NOW joint ventures in February 2019, the companies are
maintaining their dynamic growth course: Almost 90 million people
currently use the joint ventures’ mobility services for car-sharing,
ride-hailing, parking, charging and multimodal platforms, which are
offered in over 1,300 cities worldwide.
The shareholders are now setting course for the joint ventures’ next
phase of expansion, which will be focused on profitable growth. The
services offered by the joint ventures will continue to be tailored to
customer needs and clustered into three pillars: 1. FREE NOW. 2. SHARE
NOW. 3. PARK NOW CHARGE NOW. The introduction of a new umbrella
organization, effective 1 January 2020, will support efficient
management of these three pillars.
Rainer Feurer, Senior Vice President Investment of BMW Group: “As a
shareholder, we firmly believe that combining the services into three
pillars will strengthen the joint ventures’ impact and focus in a
highly competitive, fast-growing environment. Both shareholders are
backing the YOUR NOW business model and are determined to develop the
joint ventures into a leading player in the mobility market.” Franz
Reiner, CEO of Daimler Mobility AG: “We are setting the course for the
YOUR NOW joint ventures to achieve sustainable profitability. At the
same time, partnerships are increasingly important to success in the
marketplace and, in this respect, we are open to further stepping up growth.”
FREE NOW achieves platform revenues of more than two billion
euros and reaches almost 300 million trips
FREE NOW (formerly mytaxi), one of Europe’s leading mobility
providers, which includes the taxi and ride-hailing services FREE NOW,
Beat, Kapten and electric scooter service Hive, is heading for record
earnings for 2019: The annual GMV run rate (gross merchandise volume;
platform revenues) will reach more than two billion euros – increasing
the previous year’s figure significantly. In 2019, the volume of tours
(i.e. number of trips) was up 120 percent from 2018: FREE NOW will
have completed almost 300 million trips in 18 European and Latin
American countries by the end of this year. More than 39 million
passengers took advantage of the services provided by more than
800,000 affiliated drivers. Growth was also driven in part by the
highly successful launch of Beat in Mexico City and Kapten in London,
as well as expansion of the FREE NOW car rental service “Ride” in
Germany, which allows customers to book a rental car with a licensed
driver at a fixed rate.
FREE NOW is also firmly on track for growth in 2020: Additional
mobility services, such as e-scooters, electric bikes, car-sharing and
public transport will also be integrated into the app, alongside its
core ride-hailing business. This integration of multimodal mobility
offerings builds on REACH NOW’s expertise in pooling several mobility
services, with booking options, on a single platform
(“Mobility-as-a-Service“ or MaaS). REACH NOW services are currently
used by more than 7 million people in 20 cities worldwide. In the
south of Germany, on-demand ride-sharing options have been expanded in
conjunction with the Karlsruhe Transport Authority (KVV) in Ettlingen
and the public transport company Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB) in
Stuttgart. REACH NOW will increasingly focus on the development of
various mobility solutions, such as Mobility-as-a-Service platforms
and on-demand solutions for and with cities and public transport companies.
SHARE NOW will be systematically further developed, as
integration of car2go and DriveNow continues
The free-floating car-sharing provider SHARE NOW, which has emerged
from the two services car2go and DriveNow, has registered about one
million new customers since the start of the year. With the addition
of Paris in January and Budapest in April, SHARE NOW expanded its
European footprint in 2019 to include two major capitals. In the
future, the focus will be on cities that promise long-term profitable
growth. A review is currently underway to determine where
reorganization may be needed.
At the same time, the car-sharing business is being systematically
further developed and the successful integration of the two services
continues: The SHARE NOW app has been available since November 2019.
In Vienna, the new SHARE NOW app enables car2go and DriveNow vehicles
to be reserved and rented directly for the first time, with more
cities to follow. The offering will be expanded, following a
successful pilot phase that tested long-term car-sharing in Milan and
Hamburg. Long-term car sharing offers the option of renting SHARE NOW
vehicles for up to 14 days.
CHARGE NOW is Europe’s fastest-growing charging network
CHARGE NOW is Europe’s leading aggregator of charging infrastructure
and therefore a key driver for higher market penetration of electric
mobility. CHARGE NOW’s charging services already provide access to 85
percent of the European charging network in 30 European markets. It
comprises more than 130,000 charge points and contracts with around
400 charge point operators. In Germany alone, CHARGE NOW achieves 98%
market coverage. CHARGE NOW is provided by Digital Charging Solutions
GmbH, which also develops individual, tailor-made charging solutions
for other automotive manufacturers and fleet operators.
PARK NOW significantly expanding its leading position in
digital parking solutions
PARK NOW lets customers use an app to search and pay for on- and
off-road parking spaces. In 2019, PARK NOW further expanded its
leadership in digital parking solutions: 36 million customers in ten
EU countries and the US use the services of the PARK NOW Group. PARK
NOW reached 230 million transactions with its core brand, plus
Parkmobile, RingGo and Parkline, in 2019. PARK NOW is proving itself
as a partner for modern municipalities and has been recognized with
the European Parking Award for emission-based parking solutions in the UK.
Contact:
Daimler Mobility AG:
Michael Kuhn, +49 160 861 4768,
michael.m.kuhn@daimler.com
BMW Group:
Almut Stollberg, +49 151 601 965 43,
almut.stollberg@bmw.de
Further information from Daimler is available at:
www.media.daimler.com
and www.daimler.com
This document contains forward-looking statements that reflect our
current views about future events. The words “anticipate,” “assume,”
“believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” ”can,” “could,”
“plan,” “project,” “should” and similar expressions are used to
identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to
many risks and uncertainties, including an adverse development of
global economic conditions, in particular a decline of demand in our
most important markets; a deterioration of our refinancing
possibilities on the credit and financial markets; events of force
majeure including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, political
unrest, armed conflicts, industrial accidents and their effects on our
sales, purchasing, production or financial services activities;
changes in currency exchange rates and tariff regulations; a shift in
consumer preferences towards smaller, lower-margin vehicles; a
possible lack of acceptance of our products or services which limits
our ability to achieve prices and adequately utilize our production
capacities; price increases for fuel or raw materials; disruption of
production due to shortages of materials, labor strikes or supplier
insolvencies; a decline in resale prices of used vehicles; the
effective implementation of cost-reduction and efficiency-optimization
measures; the business outlook for companies in which we hold a
significant equity interest; the successful implementation of
strategic cooperations and joint ventures; changes in laws,
regulations and government policies, particularly those relating to
vehicle emissions, fuel economy and safety; the resolution of pending
government investigations or of investigations requested by
governments and the conclusion of pending or threatened future legal
proceedings; and other risks and uncertainties, some of which we
describe under the heading “Risk and Opportunity Report” in the
current Annual Report. If any of these risks and uncertainties
materializes or if the assumptions underlying any of our
forward-looking statements prove to be incorrect, the actual results
may be materially different from those we express or imply by such
statements. We do not intend or assume any obligation to update these
forward-looking statements since they are based solely on the
circumstances at the date of publication.
Daimler at a glance
Daimler AG is one of the world’s most
successful automotive companies. With its Mercedes-Benz Cars
Vans, Daimler Trucks Buses and Daimler Mobility divisions, the
Group is one of the leading global suppliers of premium cars and one
of the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Daimler
Mobility offers financing, leasing, fleet management, investments,
credit card and insurance brokerage as well as innovative mobility
services. The company founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made
history by inventing the automobile in 1886. As a pioneer of
automotive engineering, Daimler sees shaping the future of mobility in
a safe and sustainable way as both a motivation and obligation.The
company’s focus therefore remains on innovative and green technologies
as well as on safe and superior vehicles that both captivate and
inspire. Daimler continues to invest systematically in the development
of efficient powertrains – from high-tech combustion engines and
hybrid vehicles to all-electric powertrains with battery or fuel cell
– with the goal of making locally emission-free driving possible in
the long term. The company’s efforts are also focused on the
intelligent connectivity of its vehicles, autonomous driving and new
mobility concepts. Daimler regards it as its aspiration and obligation
to live up to its responsibility to society and the environment.
Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly every country of the
world and has production facilities in Europe, North and South
America, Asia and Africa. In addition to Mercedes-Benz, the world’s
most valuable premium automotive brand (source: Interbrand study, 17
Oct. 2019), and Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes me, its
brand portfolio includes smart, EQ, Freightliner, Western Star,
BharatBenz, FUSO, Setra and Thomas Built Buses as well as the brands
of Daimler Mobility: Mercedes-Benz Bank, Mercedes-Benz Financial
Services and
Daimler Truck Financial. The company is listed on
the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges (ticker symbol DAI). In
2018, the Group had a workforce of around 298,700 and sold 3.4 million
vehicles. Group revenues amounted to €167.4 billion and Group EBIT to
€11.1 billion.
The BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce
and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium
manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium
financial and mobility services. The BMW Group production network
comprises 31 production and assembly facilities in 15 countries; the
company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries. In
2018, the BMW Group sold over 2,490,000 passenger vehicles and more
than 165,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the
financial year 2018 was € 9.815 billion on revenues amounting to
€ 97.480 billion. As of 31 December 2018, the BMW Group had a
workforce of 134,682 employees. The success of the BMW Group has
always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The
company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability
throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a
clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.
www.bmwgroup.com
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