Wednesday 27 February 2019

BMW and Daimler team up in €1bn next-gen vehicle venture

Daimler and BMW have partnered to form a new €1bn (£880m) joint venture, with the aim of deploying next-generation vehicle technologies.

The German car giants are to work together on developing driverless vehicles, ride-hailing and pay-per-use services.

Daimler's Car2Go car-sharing brand will be merged with BMW's DriveNow, ParkNow and ChargeNow businesses.

Each manufacturer will hold a 50% stake in the new venture, which will be made up of five subsections; smartphone-based route management and booking service Reach Now, electric vehicle (EV) charging solution Charge Now, ride-hailing app Free Now, carpark finder Park Now and ride-sharing service Share Now.

The rivals will also work on finding a way to help drivers easily find EV charging points - the fact this is not always easy is seen as one of the main barriers to low carbon mobility.

The firms suggested they had not ruled out the possibility of buying existing tech start-ups in the sector.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said: "Further co-operation with other providers, including stakes in start-ups and established players, are also a possible option."