car2go Growing In The Global Carsharing Business

- 21-percent more car2go trips taken in 2016 than 2015

- car2go membership rose by 43-percent to 2.2 million

- Highest membership growth in Madrid, Berlin and Vancouver

- Vehicle utilization increased by approximately 40 percent between Q4 2015 and Q4 2016

STUTTGART, Germany and AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- car2go keeps growing. In financial year 2016, the market leader in flexible, one-way carsharing grew its customer base by 43-percent to 2.2 million global members. Every 1.4 seconds, a car2go member takes a trip in a car2go vehicle in one of the service's 26 car2go cities spread across North America, Europe, and Asia.

In North America, Vancouver leads car2go membership with approximately 120,000 local members. In the U.S., Seattle leads with more than 85,000 members. Every 3 seconds, a car2go member in North America takes a car2go trip, with more than 32 million trips taken since launch.

In 2016, car2go's global network of nearly 14,000 vehicles were rented more than 22 million times, a 21-percent increase compared to 2015. Globally, car2go's greatest 2016 customer growth was seen in the cities Madrid (+96,000), Berlin (+47,000), Vancouver (+26,000) and Hamburg (+26,000).

Utilization of car2go vehicles increased by approximately 40-percent between Q4 2015 and Q4 2016. As a general rule, the more frequently shared vehicles like car2gos are moving members around a city, the better carsharing fulfills its purpose to help people easily and affordably get from point A to point B while helping to reduce their city's overall road congestion. This is because shared vehicles do not take up scarce parking space as often, and they more frequently replace private cars, which are increasingly expensive and inconvenient to own in dense cities.

Olivier Reppert, global CEO of car2go Group, is optimistic for 2017: "Carsharing is a very dynamic growth market. car2go will continue to grow our business in the coming year, too – with new fleets, new offers, and new products."

"car2go is an integral part of our comprehensive mobility offerings," said Klaus Entenmann, CEO of Daimler Financial Services AG. "Millions of people all over the world are using our mobility services, and they all have one thing in common: they want up-to-date, flexible, and spontaneous mobility in their city – without owning a car."

About car2go

car2go is the market leader in the free-floating car-sharing sector and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG. With the car2go carsharing concept, smart and Mercedes-Benz vehicles can be hired anywhere and anytime at affordable (per minute) prices. The vehicles can be found, booked, and paid by using a smartphone. The car2go carsharing service has been operating since 2008. It is internationally available at 26 locations (14 in Europe, including 7 in Germany, 11 in North America, and 1 in Asia in Chongqing/China). Transnational usage is possible within Europe and North America. The approximately 14,000 vehicles have been rented over 72 million times by more than 2.2 million customers. Purely electrical fleets with a total of 1,300 vehicles are available in three locations (Stuttgart, Amsterdam, and Madrid). Thus, car2go is one of the largest providers in the electric vehicle carsharing sector. The car-sharing provider's global headquarters is in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, near Stuttgart. car2go's North American headquarters is located in Austin, TX.  

Daimler at a glance

Daimler AG is one of the most successful automotive companies in the world. With its business divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the vehicle manufacturer is one of the largest suppliers of premium cars and the world's biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Daimler Financial Services offers financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance policies, capital investments and credit cards as well as innovative mobility services. The company's founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history with the invention of the automobile in 1886. As a pioneer of automotive construction, Daimler continues to shape the future of mobility today: the Group's focus is on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior automobiles that appeal to and fascinate its customers. Daimler invests continually in the development of alternative drive systems – from hybrid vehicles through to pure electric vehicles with batteries or fuel cells – with the goal of making emission-free driving possible in the long term. Additionally, the company emphatically promotes accident-free driving and intelligent networking, right through to autonomous driving. Daimler sees living up to its responsibility to society and the environment as both an aspiration and an obligation. Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly all countries of the world and has production facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. The brand portfolio includes in addition to Mercedes-Benz, the world's most valuable premium automobile brands, Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes me, the brands smart, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, FUSO, Setra and Thomas Built Buses and the Daimler Financial Services brands: Mercedes-Benz Bank, Mercedes-Benz Financial, Daimler Truck Financial, moovel, car2go and mytaxi. The company is listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges (stock exchange abbreviation DAI). In 2015, the company sold around 2.9 million vehicles and had a workforce of a total of 284,015 employees. The turnover was 149.5 billion euros, the EBIT amounted to 13.2 billion euros.

SOURCE car2go

Related Links

http://www.car2go.com