Winning shared mobility services combo hits China

German luxury auto giant BMW says its new shared mobility services - featuring on-demand products like car sharing, charging solutions and others - is set to grow by leaps and bounds in 2018.

The Bavarian automaker prepared the groundwork for its shared mobility services at an early stage, in conjunction with its Number One > Next corporate strategy that was rolled out two years ago.

It says that work will begin to bear fruit in the current year.

BMW's mobility services entered Asian markets with its debut in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, in December 2017.

The service is called Reach-Now in China and is in line with the group's ACES strategy - or autonomous, connected, electrified, services and shared.

ReachNow has joined EVCard, a Shanghai-based electric car-sharing company, to provide a station-based premium electric car-sharing mobility service - ReachNow Powered by EVCard.

The program offers customers in Chengdu a flexible on-demand mobility experience, representing a new milestone within BMW's mobility services strategy.

ReachNow Powered by EVCard provides a new and innovative individual mobility solution to Chinese customers at the price of 2 yuan ($0.25) per minute. Daily and weekend packages are also available, with 100 driving units for the electric BMW i3.

"The launch of ReachNow in China reflects BMW Group's vision for future mobility," said Bernhard Blaettel, vice-president of mobility and energy services at BMW Group.

"China and Chinese customers are playing a crucial role in the transformation of mobility," he said.

"The combination of electric mobility and car-sharing will contribute to a sustainable and low-carbon lifestyle in urban areas of China."

Together with local partners, BMW aims to bring its worldwide experience in mobility services to China, and to meet increasing demand from customers for convenient and sustainable mobility with premium cars and services.

Thanks to the partnership with EVCard, customers are able to pick up or return cars at about 1,000 stations in the central area of the city. Among them, 25 stations, branded as ReachNow Powered by EVCard, will be located in residential and commercial areas, and near office buildings, government compounds and five-star hotels.

As a global leader in innovative mobility, BMW has gained rich experience in operating mobility services. It aims to have 100 million active customers by 2025.

BMW's recent acquisitions of car-sharing app DriveNow and parking service app Parkmobile make it a leading provider of digitalized mobility services.

The two deals give BMW a control over a wide range of strategic options for enhancing its range of mobility services, in a field set to make a crucial contribution to sustainable urban mobility.

In March, BMW AG and Daimler AG decided to merge their mobility services business units, to become a leading provider of innovative mobility services. Together, BMW and Daimler plan to grow this new business model sustainably.

The two companies also plan to combine and expand their existing on-demand mobility offering in the areas of car sharing, ride hailing, parking and charging. Each side will hold a 50-percent stake in the joint-venture comprising the mobility services of the two.

The merger is expected to promote e-mobility, for example, by offering the sharing of electric cars, and easy access to charging and parking options.

As a result, it will become even easier to use sustainable mobility services.

The partners have joined forces to offer customers a single source for sustainable urban mobility services. As a result, a holistic ecosystem of intelligent, seamlessly connected mobility services is available at the tap of a finger.

(China Daily 04/25/2018 page4)