BMW and Daimler will exit the short-term car rental market in North America, the UK and two mainland European cities.
The companies said Wednesday that they will halt Share Now operations in Montreal, New York, Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, along with London, Brussels and Florence.
Share Now, formerly known as Car2Go, is part of a joint venture between the two German automakers.
It cited the “volatile state of the global mobility landscape,” and “the rising infrastructure complexities facing North American transportation today and the associated costs needed to sustain operations here”. Car2Go had 1 million North American members and 3 million worldwide, Daimler said last year.
Share Now also said: “Further, despite our best efforts and investments in Brussels, London and Florence over the years, we are unable to continue operations in a manner that’s sustainable for our business due to low adoption rates. “
Operations will focus on the remaining 18 European cities where Share Now operates, the company said.
The service allowed consumers to rent vehicles by the minute and park them on city streets or at parking meters without charge. The service faced tough competition from ride-hailing firms such as Uber, Lyft, and electric scooters.
Share Now said Wednesday it “had remained hopeful that we would be able to come to a solution – especially these last few months – we are ultimately not in a position to commit to the level of investment necessary to make the North American market successful both in the near and long term”.
In October, Share Now/Car2Go ended operations in Denver, Austin, Portland, and Calgary and said they were end operations by year-end in Chicago.
In 2018, Daimler bought Europcar’s remaining 25 percent stake in Car2Go for 70 million euros ($78 million). Earlier this year, BMW and Daimler merged their car-sharing units Car2Go and DriveNow as well as ride-hailing, parking and charging services.