Car manufacturing giants BMW and Daimler have decided to consolidate their efforts for the future of mobility by merging their respective urban mobility divisions. These divisions were focused on services such as parking, ride-hailing, car-sharing, charging, and multimodal transport. They have both been investing in their own separate urban mobility projects over the years but have now decided to consolidate the efforts. The German car giants own prestigious brands including Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Rolls-Royce, and BMW.
This merger combines both companies’ mobility businesses into one entity but the deal does require approval from antitrust regulators. Each company will get a 50 percent stake in the entity. BMW has already been operating a car-sharing service in several markets across the globe while Daimler has made major acquisitions and investments in the ride-hailing space.
With the competition in the urban mobility space heating up as companies like Google and Uber plan to launch their own on-demand services, it makes sense for conventional car manufacturers like Daimler and BMW to work together and pool their resources to better compete against rivals.
The two companies will remain competitors nonetheless outside the scope of this combined entity. “We remain competitors when it comes to the best premium vehicles. The planned merger of our mobility services will pool our resources and sends a strong signal to our new competitors,” said BMW board chairman Harald Krüger.