Making It Work? Let's Share A Ride As GM Rolls Out Car Sharing Service (Updated)

by Benson Agoha | Transport

* Maven - the new car-sharing service idea by GM begins in US
and Germany. (Credit: via Industry Week)

General Motors starts car-sharing service in Germany and the United States according to a report on the Economic Times.

General Motors announced in Detroit on Thursday, it was to start car sharing service in Germany and the United States.

The service is called Maven in the United States and Germany and that joins them with at least two other automakers testing the market for consumers who want to borrow cars rather than own them.

GM's idea will launch with small fleets in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in Chicago, New York, Frankfurt and Berlin. It will center around big cities and college campuses to start, the report says.

It will gradually expand and initially will cost $6 or $12 for a large car.

Industry Week reports Ian Beavis, chief strategy officer at automotive consulting agency AMCI, as saying that Maven “is basically General Motors' version of [car sharing service] ZipCar.

“Maven is a way to unify several things they’re doing,” he said, adding “It’s an exercise. They’ve got a car sharing arrangement in Germany and one in New York. Coming up with a brand name for a car sharing service makes sense—putting it under an umbrella, giving it a focus, is a good idea.”

GM is partnering with Magellan for the service, but according to him, the arrangement is “not exactly clear.”

However, he said “what I like about this is that it’s great experimentation, it’s helpful and valuable and it’s what car companies need to be doing. There’s no substitute for going out there and doing it, rather than just thinking about it.

“This peer-to-peer stuff, it’s going to be years before this shakes out. There won’t be one solution—there’s going to be multiple solutions.”

Read about it [ here] and also from the [ Industry Week ].