With the acquisition of the shares of Sixt SE in DriveNow, the BMW Group is consistently continuing its development towards a customer-centered mobility company. Today's signing of the contract was subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities. The leading provider of premium mobility offers its customers efficient, sustainable mobility solutions under one roof. The future field of mobility services is one of the cornerstones of the corporate strategy NUMBER ONE> NEXT. Therefore, the BMW Group is continuing to expand its offerings in the areas of on-demand mobility (DriveNow and ReachNow), parking (ParkNow) and charging (ChargeNow). The acquisition of the Sixt shares is therefore the next logical step after the acquisition of Parkmobile LLC in early January this year.
"With DriveNow, we've written an extraordinary track record over the past seven years. We owe this to the performance of DriveNow employees and the excellent cooperation with our joint venture partner Sixt. Sixt will continue to be a strong partner for us in the future, "said Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, MINI, Rolls-Royce, BMW Motorrad, Customer Experience and Digital Business Innovation BMW Group. "By 2025, we want to inspire 100 million customers for our premium mobility offerings. With DriveNow as a wholly owned subsidiary, we have all the options for the strategic further development of our services in our hands. The experiences of our mobility services are also relevant for us with regard to future autonomous, electrified and networked fleets ".
Irrespective of the acquisition of the Sixt shares in DriveNow, the BMW Group and Sixt will continue their long-standing successful partnership for the delivery of BMW and MINI vehicles to the Sixt fleet.
"The joint development of DriveNow impressively demonstrates the innovative power of Sixt and the BMW Group. We thank the DriveNow employees and the BMW Group for this success and look forward to continuing our strategic partnership with the BMW Group as part of our vehicle supply agreements for the BMW and MINI brands, "said Alexander Sixt, Chief Strategy Officer of Sixt SE. DriveNow was founded in 2011 as a premium car sharing joint venture between the BMW Group and Sixt SE.
The service is already used by over one million customers in thirteen major European cities. The fleet comprises more than 6,000 premium vehicles of the BMW and MINI brands throughout Europe. At all DriveNow locations, electric BMW i3s are also available to users.
"With DriveNow's electric fleet, our customers covered more than 8 million kilometers in 2017, circumnavigating the earth more than 200 times with electric propulsion. DriveNow not only relieves the traffic and parking situation in urban areas, but also helps electromobility to make a breakthrough, "said Sebastian Hofelich, CEO of DriveNow. "We look forward to working together with our city and franchise partners to continue to make urban mobility more active and sustainable in the future," added Hofelich.
The BMW Group wants to improve the quality of life in urban areas with its mobility services. Together with various partners and responsible authorities in the cities, it contributes to shaping the sustainable mobility of the future.
https://www.drivenow.com.au/