DETROIT — General Motors is shutting down Maven, its first prominent foray into the mobility space, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve gained extremely valuable insights from operating our own car-sharing business,” Pamela Fletcher, vice president of Global Innovation for GM, said in an emailed statement. “Our learnings and developments from Maven will go on to benefit and accelerate the growth of other areas of GM business.”
Maven notified customers Tuesday, but the business will wind down gradually by market, spokeswoman Katie Downey said. All operations will likely be shut down by late summer.
Maven’s assets and resources will be transferred to GM’s Global Innovation organization, as well as the larger enterprise, the statement said.
Maven launched in 2016 in Ann Arbor, Mich., as a short-term vehicle rental service before expanding with Maven Gig, which provides short-term leases for vehicles used in ride-hailing or delivery services. Maven Gig will also be shut down.
Sigal Cordeiro, vice president of GM Urban Mobility and Maven, will move to the Global Innovation organization as executive director of sales, marketing and partnerships.
Most of the roughly 45 Maven employees and contractors in the U.S. and Canada will likely fill other jobs within GM, Downey said.
In 2016, Dan Ammann, GM’s then-president, said the company viewed Maven as a long-term investment that would not be profitable initially but would make money as the program expanded.
GM last year ended operations in eight of the 17 cities where Maven was available.
About a month ago, GM had to suspend Maven services because of market conditions, customer and employee safety and government restrictions.
GM decided to transition Maven’s resources and technology to other GM businesses that have greater growth and profit potential, Downey said.
Terminating the Maven service is the latest cost-cutting action GM has taken to weather the impact of the coronavirus. Last month, GM reduced paychecks for all salaried employees globally by 20 percent to conserve cash, promising to make up for the lost income within a year. Executives and the board of directors also took pay cuts of at least 20 percent.