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 The car-sharing service 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.
Maven, a Yiddish word for expert, will expand to other cities this
year, but GM would not say how quickly or by how much. Julia Steyn,
head of GM's urban mobility programs, said that depends on consumer
demand in the initial cities and college campuses.
GM President Dan Ammann made clear that this is not ride-sharing
which is offered by Lyft Inc, in which GM invested $500 million.
In ride-sharing, customers summon cars and someone drives them. In
car-sharing, customers use a smart phone app or other device to
access cars and drive themselves.
It was unclear how GM will scale up this car-sharing effort and
Ammann would not reveal how much the company is investing or how
many GM cars will be in the Maven fleet to start or down the line.
Use of a small car starts at as little as $6 per hour or $12 per
hour for a large car, according to website MavenDrive.com.
GM’s Maven, like the efforts by rival automakers, aims to convince
skeptical investors that in the car business, incumbents can move
into new markets such as car sharing instead of waiting for upstarts
to undermine their franchises.
What remains unclear is whether Maven or other carmakers mobility
service ventures can compete effectively with well-capitalized
challengers such as Uber Technologies Inc , the ride-hailing
company, or ventures that might be launched by Silicon Valley
technology powers Apple Inc or Alphabet Inc.
Ammann said worldwide between 5 million and 6 million people already
use ride sharing and car sharing, a figure he expects to expand
four- or five-fold by the end of the decade.
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"We see significant opportunity," said Ammann.
Car sharing remains a relatively small slice of the overall car
market – but GM can use Maven to hedge its bets. If car sharing
takes off, it has a stake in the game. If it does not, GM has
another way to give customers test drives and, maybe, convince them
to buy a vehicle.
GM is not alone in its car-sharing venture. Daimler AG’s
Mercedes-Benz luxury brand has grouped its ride sharing and ride
hailing ventures under the “Mercedesme” brand, which like GM’s Maven
aggregates a smartphone app, access to short- and longer-term
rentals as well as access to taxis and mass transit. Ford Motor Co
last week said it will group its “mobility” offering under the
FordPass brand, built around a smartphone app that allows customers
to hail rides, share cars and pay for goods and services at partner
companies such as McDonald's.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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