BMW Group and Daimler AG have announced plans to headquarter their proposed joint mobility company in Berlin, with the two companies officially having filed for this venture with the European Commission, a press release states. The overarching goal of this initiative is to innovate and advance solutions for modern mobility areas such as ride-sharing and its booking and payment, correlated apps, parking, and electric vehicle charging.
“Our vision is to create a major global player for seamless and intelligent connected mobility services together,” said Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management at Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. “As a hub for creativity and innovation, Berlin is exactly the right location for our plans.”
Berlin, of course, is a diverse and populated city with a rich walking, public transportation, and bicycling history. According to BMW, while that’s certainly a huge factor in selecting Germany’s capital as the proving ground for the proposed advancements, the conglomerate is set on utilizing the ensuing business models and expand them on a global scale. Germany will be the tested for BMW and Daimler to attempt to refine car-sharing and electric vehicle charging systems.
“The future of mobility is being shaped in major cities like Berlin,” said Harald Krüger, chairman of the board of management at BMW. “With the ecosystem we are planning, we will create solutions for tomorrow’s urban mobility: intelligent, seamlessly connected and available at the tap of a finger. We believe this will improve quality of life in major cities.”
Both Daimler and BMW will have a 50-percent stake in the joint venture, but will naturally remain competitive automakers outside of it. In BMW’s own words, what comprises this proposed joint mobility company, specifically, can be categorized into the five following sections: multimodal and on-demand mobility, car-sharing, ride-hailing, parking, and charging.
While the application for permission to consolidate both BMW and Daimler’s existing mobility services has officially been submitted to the European Commission, all we can do is wait patiently and keep a close watch on how this proposed joint venture moves forward. It’ll definitely be interesting to see two of the world’s largest automakers join forces to focus exclusively on the five categories mentioned above. With the right kind of data analysis, funding, and innovative ingenuity in refining these areas, the end results could certainly mark undeniable improvements in those industries. Stay tuned.