MINIs for the masses

BMW car sharing joint venture to attract a million German customers
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Building on the success of car sharing programs such as car2go, a Daimler initiative offering short-term loans of its diminutive Smart ForTwo city car, BMW has this week announced it will adopt a similar scheme using its own 1 Series and MINI Cooper models.

The venture is called DriveNow and has been developed in conjunction with Germany's largest car rental company, Sixt. BMW says it aims to attract a million customers to the scheme by 2020. The ethos of the program is to extend car access to more people without the burden of ownership costs.

"We are aiming to launch a profitable new line of business while at the same time introducing potential new customers to our brands," explained BMW sales and marketing head in Germany, Ian Robertson.

The cars will be parked at locations throughout the city with rental available "on the spur of the moment" over the internet or via a Smartphone application. Access to the vehicle is granted via a chip embedded in the customer's driver's license (see pictured).

Launching in Munich on April 1, DriveNow will employ a mix of 300 BMW 1 Series and MINI Cooper models in that city before offering a further 500 cars in Berlin towards the middle of the year. More European cities will be added to the list over the coming months with plans to extend the program globally should it prove viable. Other models, including all-electric vehicles, will be added later depending on demand.

Car sharing programs are proving increasingly popular in Europe with patronage expected to top 5.5 million by 2016.


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