Stellantis buys car-sharing joint venture Share Now from BMW and Mercedes

Stellantis will buy the Share Now car-sharing venture from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, incorporating it into Stellantis’ own Free2Move service. The companies do not disclose the selling price, but Bloomberg reported that it could be around $260 million.

Share Now was founded in 2019 by BMW and Mercedes from a car-sharing service that the two German carmakers started operating independently. According to a Stellantis press release, the proposed purchase agreement will add 14 European cities and 10,000 vehicles to Free2Move’s existing fleet of 2,500 vehicles.

Jeep Renegade – Stellantis Car Sharing Free2Move

Free2Move currently operates in the US cities of Denver, Austin, Columbus, Portland and Washington, DC. The Share Now acquisition will not expand its footprint in the United States, however, as BMW and Mercedes pulled their car-sharing services from the market years ago.

The US has proven to be a particularly difficult environment for car-sharing services by automakers. Free2Move was moved into a space vacated not only by BMW and Mercedes, but also by General Motors.

Run by Mercedes parent company Daimler, Car2Go started out as something more focused on the city and community, but in a series of moves aimed at boosting the business. it cuts out diverse communities can benefit most from car sharing.

Citroen Ami joins the Free2Move fleet in the US

Meanwhile, BMW used Reach Now as a platform for its i3 promotion– then, the parent company mixed more gasoline samples, which blurred the reason for the service’s existence.

GM shut down its Maven service suddenly in 2020. It was established in 2017 for alternative moving models, which fall outside the franchised dealer standard. In addition to car sharing, its services include rental of food delivery drivers and carpooling in the so-called “Gig Economy”.

Free2Move has experimented with a slightly different model, in offering fun, intimate vehicles from Stellantis’ global portfolio — like the smaller and cute Jeep Citroën Ami EVs.