Mercedes-Benz and BMW have confirmed that their joint Car2Go rental and car-sharing service will exit five North American cities by the end of the year.
Car2Go will initially be pulled from Denver, Austin, Calgary and Portland on October 31 and Chicago on December 31. This will halve the number of North American metropolitan areas in which the service operates.
“We have to face the hard reality that despite our efforts, we underestimated the investment and resources that are truly necessary to make our service successful in these complex transportation markets amid a quickly changing mobility landscape,” Car2Go said in a statement. “The transportation market is highly volatile, especially in North America. We are certainly not the only transportation player — from traditional automakers to ride-hail giants to micro-mobility disruptors — who have had to face this reality and adjust course.”
Also Read: Police Arrest 16 People After 100 Car2Go Mercedes And Smarts Stolen In Chicago
Car2Go says it will re-focus its efforts on cities it believes “present the clearest path to free-floating carshare success”, like New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Montreal and Vancouver.
The service was founded by Daimler and allows users to rent Mercedes-Benz and Smart vehicles in cities around the world. In April, as many as 100 vehicles offered through the rental app in Chicago were stolen due to a “fraud issue.” Car2Go was forced to temporarily suspend the service in Chicago as it conducted an investigation into what happened.
Daimler’s Car2Go service was merged with BMW’s mobility service DriveNow earlier this year to create Share Now.
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