Free2Move Acquires Share Now from BMW/Mercedes-Benz

The mobility division of the Stellantis Group, Free2Move, has acquired car sharing business Share Now from the joint venture formed by Mercedes-Benz Mobility Group and BMW Group in 2019.

Free2move says the addition of Share Now will boost its car sharing offering to fleet managers from 2500 vehicles to 12,500 vehicles.

In addition it will add more than 3.4 million customers to its existing 2 million users while adding 14 major European cities to its services to become the car sharing leader.

“Integrating Share Now’s strong position in major European cities will allow our customers to gain greater access to a wider range of services to satisfy their varied mobility needs,” said Brigitte Courtehoux, Free2move CEO. “We are now a step closer to achieving our goal of expanding Free2move’s worldwide presence to 15 million active users by 2030.”

Free2move offers users the ability to drive a car for a few minutes or a few hours and the ability to extend the rental if needed without changing the contract.

The Share Now business was originally set up in 2019 and combined Daimler’s car2go offering with BMW Group’s DriveNow.

The joint venture will now concentrate on its multimodal FREE NOW service and its electric charging service CHARGE NOW.

FREE NOW offers European customers the ability to book e-scooters, e-bikes, e-mopeds and car sharing as well as taxis and chauffeured vehicles, while CHARGE NOW is providing greater access to charging solutions for business users of electric vehicles.

Gero Götzenberger, director of strategy and investments at Mercedes-Benz Mobility commented:

"We are proud to have founded the free-floating car sharing segment with car2go. Although Mercedes-Benz will focus more strongly on its core business in the luxury segment, car sharing will remain an important part of urban mobility and an essential element in the mobility offer at FREE NOW. With FREE NOW and CHARGE NOW, we are focusing on two growth segments that will continue to offer our customers the entire range of mobility services in the future and support the expansion of electric mobility."

Rainer Feurer, head of corporate investments at the BMW Group, added:

"The mobility joint ventures have been pioneers in Europe – FREE NOW and CHARGE NOW have been very successful in building a software platform for as many players as possible in their respective segments. The apps provide our customers with a comprehensive and wide range of digital services.  The new orientation enables us to scale our activities faster in the shortest possible time."

Free2move has been growing its competency in the mobility sector with the recent acquisition of Opel Rent, accelerating its growth strategy in Germany and Austria. Meanwhile, it has expanded its car-sharing expansion in the United States, with service now available in Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, Denver, Colorado, Columbus, Ohio and Austin, Texas. Free2move also operates car sharing in Europe (Paris and Madrid).