Daimler and BMW have announced plans to combine their businesses in new services like charging of electric vehicles and car-sharing. Daimler and BMW are two of the biggest manufacturers of luxury cars in Germany and are gearing up for the new age of mobility by combining forces. Currently, the shared mobility segment is dominated by Didi Chuxing in China and Uber in the United States.
Under the terms of the deal between the two companies, each of them will have a 50 per cent stake in the new joint venture company which will oversee car-sharing subsidiaries like DriveNow and Car2Go and ride-hailing, parking and charging services.
The two companies have said that the purpose of the partnership is to provide their customers with a system of intelligent, seamlessly connected mobility services that can easily be ramped up around the world, while continuing to retain their position as leading manufacturers of luxury cars. Daimler owns the Mercedes brand.
Commenting on the deal, Daimler chief executive, Dieter Zetsche said that as pioneers in automotive engineering, Daimler would not leave the task of shaping future urban mobility to others
Consultancy PwC has said that unless conventional car manufacturers quickly develop pay-per-mile mobility services, they would become marginalized by cash-rich tech firms like Uber, with their share of global auto industry profits projected to fall from 85 percent to less than 50 percent by 2030.
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