Daimler and BMW join up to fight off ride-hailing competition

BMW and Daimler are joining forces to offer customers a single source for “sustainable urban mobility services” to fight off competition like Uber, Lyft and Waymo in what is now a bloated and competitive market.

The two companies this week signed an agreement to merge their mobility services business units. Subject to examination and approval by the responsible competition authorities, BMW and Daimler plan to combine and strategically expand their existing on-demand mobility offering in the areas of CarSharing, Ride-Hailing, Parking, Charging and Multimodality. 

Each company will hold a 50-percent stake in a joint-venture model comprising both companies’ mobility services. The two companies will remain competitors in their respective core businesses.

The aim is to become a leading provider of innovative mobility services with ride-hailing one of the big focuses. Between the two companies they current offer several ride-hailing apps; mytaxi, Chauffeur Privé, Clever Taxi and Beat.

In total, 13 million customers and some 140,000 drivers are already using the modern, practical and fast way of Ride-Hailing with mytaxi, Clever Taxi and Beat or private hire vehicle service Chauffeur Privé. 

“The future of mobility lies in cities: The key to more liveable cities is in intelligent and seamless services that are easy to use and combine sustainable modes of transport and mobility services,” said Peter Schwarzenbauer, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for MINI, Rolls-Royce, BMW Motorrad, Customer Engagement and Digital Business Innovation BMW Group. 

“The pioneering work and commitment of the employees who provide our services have laid a valuable foundation. I would like to thank them very much indeed for all that they have done,” Schwarzenbauer continued.”