The Big Story / March 2017

Home , Chariot (company), Flexcar, ReachNow, Sixt

THE BIG STORY / MARCH 2017

THE EDGE OF MOBILITY AUTOMAKERS ARE EMBRACING AND INVESTING IN MOBILITY SERVICES, INCLUDING HAILING AND SHARING VENTURES. WILL VEHICLE OWNERSHIP BECOME A THING OF THE PAST?

BY CHRISTIE SCHWEINSBERG THE BIG STORY

Profitability ENERAL MOTORS those who choose to own them? a Moving and Maven. Ford And do people really want to Target and Chariot. share or hail instead of own? It 11 Volkswagen and depends on whose crystal ball Your Cost Gett. Daimler and you’re staring into. May Vary GCar2Go. Toyota and Getaround. “We know the world is moving 17 And that’s just the tip of the from the mindset of owning vehi- iceberg of automakers’ efforts cles to owning them and sharing Key Players to embrace and invest in new- them,” Ford CEO Mark Fields told in New Mobility mobility services, which encap- media of the automaker’s forays 21 sulate ride-hailing, ride-sharing into mobility and the related busi- (also known as carpooling), car- ness of autonomous vehicles. sharing and, in the case of Ford, “Without any doubt, I think even bike-sharing endeavors. there will be more shared cars But are these efforts destined in the future. Will this be the Cover photo: GM Maven app to help or hurt automakers’ core dominant trend? I don’t think so,” business of selling vehicles to Renault-Nissan Chairman Carlos

WARDSAUTO 2 | MARCH 2017

THE BIG STORY

GLOSSARY OF TERMS CAR-SHARING, also known as short-term rental, involves use of a vehicle that may be fleet-owned or privately owned. Examples of services owned by fleets include Audi on demand, Car2Go, DriveNow, Maven, ReachNow, WaiveCar and Zipcar. Peer-to-peer vehicle rental firms include Turo and Getaround. The definitions get fuzzy in some instances as CarUnity has available Dietmar Exler, Mercedes-Benz: “The vast majority both fleet-owned and peer-owned of Millennials prefer to own a car just for them.” rentals.

RIDE-SHARING, also known Ghosn told website Techcrunch. as carpooling and sometimes com last year. erroneously used in place of “The vast majority of Millennials ride-hailing, involves two or prefer to own a car just for them,” more people utilizing shared says Dietmar Exler, president and transportation to reduce costs, emissions and fuel use. CEO-Mercedes Benz USA. “They don’t want to share it. They (see Examples include Ford’s Chariot shuttle-van service, UberPool and it as) an asset they want to have Audi unite. Chariot also wants to available.” move goods, not just people, to Clear as mud. their intended destination. But, in the defense of OEMs RIDE-HAILING encompasses more bullish than bearish about traditional taxi services and non- the prospects of the hailing and licensed services such as Uber, sharing economy, to predict Lyft and Juno in the U.S., mytaxi in vehicle ownership will decline in Europe and Didi Chuxing in China. the not-too-distant future isn’t a stretch given the signposts.

WARDSAUTO 4 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

“You’ve got an increasing per- K centage of the population, not THINKSTOC surprisingly the Millennials, that /

(say ride-hailing) is their primary STOCK i / form of transportation,” says Craig Giffi, national industry lead- er for consultancy Deloitte’s U.S. automotive practice, referring to HOTO COPYRIGHT © URF COPYRIGHT HOTO

a Deloitte study showing 64% of P ride-hailing Generation Y and Z Americans question their need to own a vehicle. Not only is global population increasing, but people also are gravitating more and more toward urban centers. The balance tipped in 2014 when, for the first time, more than half of the people on the planet were living in urban, rather than rural, areas. Traffic added 61% extra travel time There already are 31 megacities to commutes in Bangkok, according to TomTom. – those with populations exceed- ing 10 million, mostly found in parking and insurance costs sky- Asia, Latin America and Africa, rocket further and traffic conges- says the United Nations. That tion becomes unbearable. number is expected to grow to How unbearable? TomTom says 41 or more by 2030, and by 2050 traffic caused those driving in more than 70% of the world’s pop- Mexico City last year to spend an ulation will live in urban centers. extra 66% more time traveling That dynamic is likely to dis- to their destination during any courage individual car ownership time of the day. Traffic added 61% as already somewhat prohibitive extra travel time to commutes in

WARDSAUTO 5 | MARCH 2017

THE BIG STORY

Bangkok, 58% more time in Jakarta try that traditionally has enjoyed and 52% more in Chongqing. the lowest vehicle-purchase and Not surprisingly, thanks to the -usage costs. explosion in car ownership in Kelley Blue Book says the aver- the country in the past 10 years, age purchase price of a new China placed three cities in the vehicle in the U.S. in 2016 was top 10 (Chongqing, Chengdu and $33,865. Working off that figure, Beijing) of TomTom’s 2017 Traffic Bankrate.com says those in well- Index of cities with population heeled San Jose, CA, were best above 800,000. able to afford a new vehicle last Because of the increase in year, but based on their median traffic in various metropolises, household income calculated local governments have sought they should spend no more than to restrict vehicles within urban $32,856 on average. And that’s centers as a way to improve air San Jose, one of the wealthiest quality. There’s Beijing’s infa- cities in the U.S. mous license-plate lottery system Based on Detroit’s median and London’s current congestion household income, Bankrate charge, plus its upcoming toxicity estimated Motor City residents charge, which will penalize older should limit spending on a new The lowest- vehicles that pollute more. vehicle to $6,174. The lowest- priced new All of this comes at a time when priced new vehicle in the U.S., vehicle in the U.S. is the new-vehicle affordability is at its Nissan’s Versa S sedan, costs Nissan Versa S worst, even in the U.S., a coun- $11,990 excluding destination sedan. and handling. Given these factors, it is easy to see why automakers are looking to remain dominant in the transportation game even if owning a car becomes too cumbersome and costly. Every automaker has a different

WARDSAUTO 7 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

Chariot, Ford’s dynamic shuttle service, bills itself as a provider of affordable and convenient transportation.

formula for how and why they will Partners of Detroit, echoes Rao’s do that. (For the how, see related comments. sidebar on Page 21). “I don’t think there’s necessarily “The essence of Ford Smart anything wrong with the current Mobility is to liberate the human (business) model,” Thomas tells journey. That is our overarching WardsAuto. “I think it’s a question aspiration,” Rajendra Rao, CEO-Ford of ‘What are the new models that Smart Mobility, tells WardsAuto. “We can be deployed that make trans- want to make journeys not just pro- portation more efficient, more ductive in our vehicles that Ford safe and more fun?’” makes, but we want the journey If that’s too saccharine an out- experience itself to be more pro- look for you, others are more ductive and more fun.” unsentimental. Chris Thomas, who alongside Bob Carter, senior vice president- Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. is automotive operations for Toyota a founding partner of mobility Motor Sales U.S.A., admits his venture-capital firm Fontinalis company’s mobility positioning “is

WARDSAUTO 8 | MARCH 2017

THE BIG STORY

) aggressive automakers in the new- mobility realm in recent years. John Mendel, the retiring execu- tive vice president for American Honda, draws a comparison to the automakers-as-rental-car- firm-owners craze of the 1980s. “I’m not demeaning a strategy, but I remember years ago when a PHOTO COPYRIGHT © ADAM BERRY/GETTY IMAGES BERRY/GETTY © ADAM COPYRIGHT PHOTO major OEM in Detroit bought their own rental-car company,” he says. “And so that was a means to an end, right? And I’m intending to look a little bit at the first-mov- er piece on Lyft, Uber and all this other stuff as a little bit of that.” Uber had half-a- Still, Honda last month billion users as of announced its investment in last fall. DRIVE, a “smart mobility innova- more of…a defensive move. We’re tion center” in Tel Aviv. not in full offensive mode.” “The table stakes to play in the Carter believes it will be a long age of systemic mobility is hav- time before the industry needs to ing not only a thesis, but having worry about losing vehicle sales to a product, a service, that allows new-mobility schemes, but sees a you to be relevant in an era when viable business model for sharing people are going to use their vehi- services in certain geographies, rat- cles in very, very different ways,” tling off highly populated and tech- Thomas says of what automakers savvy Northern California regions. stand to gain from mobility invest- Honda, which 15 years ago ments. “I think (OEMs are) doing invested in Zipcar predecessor this because they’re trying to Flexcar, has been one of the less- remain relevant, to be very frank.”

WARDSAUTO 10 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

Profitability a Moving Target With a few exceptions – most time you do all the logistics, (and notably GM’s $500 million invest- insure the vehicles, sharing ven- ment in Lyft – automakers are tures are) not profitable.” keeping their expenditures on But, as with many industry mobility under wraps. endeavors, some say it’s only a Based on his own calcula- matter of time before profits are tions and conversations with realized. other auto execs, Hyundai Motor “The businesses I’m building America’s Mark Dipko, director- and continue to build have to corporate planning and strat- generate that kind of margin,” egy, says sharing schemes are Rao says of Ford’s projection that “all money-losers. They’re not mobility services will provide a sustainable business models, 20% return on investment (vs. because you have a depreciating an 8% ROI for its core business asset sitting around a lot. By the of building and selling vehicles).

WARDSAUTO 11 | MARCH 2017

THE BIG STORY

WaiveCar offers 2 hours free usage of Hyundai Ioniq thanks to digital billboard atop car.

“Now is it going to be overnight? for VW and be profitable with No. (But) when we get it all done placement in 30 or 40 cities with- and it all shows up at scale, peo- in the next five years. ple will go, ‘Wow! How did they Dipko’s Hyundai brand is dip- pull that off?’” ping its toes in the mobility Michael Fischer, head of mobil- waters through a partnership ity communications for VW’s with WaiveCar, which will allow new MOIA mobility group, tells for two hours’ free usage of an WardsAuto, “We are supposed to Ioniq electric vehicle thanks to be a substantial revenue-maker advertising revenue from a digi- for the Volkswagen Group in tal billboard on the car’s roof. He the future. There are definitely says even if new-mobility plans high goals for the company, and don’t pencil on a balance sheet, (MOIA) is not something that is for they generally do help build a marketing purposes.” brand. Fischer says MOIA, which will It’s one of the reasons Hyundai offer on-demand shuttles ini- is partnering with WaiveCar on tially in Germany, has a goal to the Ioniq EV and where it saw the “make a high revenue stream” benefit from a 2012 partnership

WARDSAUTO 13 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

GM Maven car-sharing in 17 U.S. cities.

with Zipcar for the Veloster sport “We are talking to audiences in coupe. large metropolitan cities where, “If we looked at it as a market- very honestly, core (automotive) ing expense – and the (Velosters) brands are losing grasp, on both held their value really well – I coasts,” Maven Vice President think we were positive from an Julia Steyn says. ROI perspective in terms of the The opportunity to get Maven buzz generated, the media value, customers into brand-new vehi- vs. the depreciated costs of the cles across the GM portfolio is vehicle,” he says. huge exposure, says Steyn, who GM says raising awareness of joined GM in 2012 from aluminum its Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and giant Alcoa to lead merger-and- GMC brands is a key reason it acquisition efforts at the auto- launched the Maven car-sharing maker. She took over Maven for business in January 2016. its launch early last year.

WARDSAUTO 14 | MARCH 2017

THE BIG STORY

Julia Steyn, GM’s cars and trucks. GM Maven Instead of selling returning dai- vice president, ly-rentals and off-lease vehicles says core on the auction block for a mini- automotive mum yield, GM can slip them into brands losing grasp the Maven fleet and book new on coasts. revenue off them longer into their lifecycle. “We are thinking about the lifecycle of the car very strategi- cally,” Steyn says. “We are draft- ing a changing world, how the customers think about it, and on the flipside we are adding value to the core business.” Dipko says Hyundai also is looking at the possibility of placing good-condition used vehicles with sharing services. Showing it hasn’t lost sight of “People that get in a car-sharing its core business, GM says it is car don’t need to have a brand- hoping to convert Maven users new car, so we’re actually explor- to buy at the right point in their ing the opportunity that when lives. Maven had 23,231 custom- a vehicle does come off of a ers across 17 U.S. cities as of early lease, does it still have some life- February. time to go into something like a In addition to raising aware- WaiveCar?” he says. “(WaiveCar) ness of GM products, as well as can buy those cars at a much providing the automaker a new lower price to lower their costs. revenue stream through hourly The depreciation of that vehicle rental fees, Maven is expected has already been taken up by the to pump up the residual value of first owner.”

WARDSAUTO 16 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

Your Cost May Vary For those debating buying a vehicle vs. using sharing or hailing services, how do costs compare? A study by the Center for Auto- motive Research finds sharing vs. owning currently makes sense only if a person drives fewer than 8,200 miles (13,197 km) per year. Vehicle size also must be fac- tored in, says CAR, noting sharing becomes cheaper than owning and operating a small sedan driven less than 6,300 miles (10,134 km) annually or a 4-wheel-drive SUV driven 11,600 miles (18,668 km) or less per year. Deutsche Bank says ownership Fontinalis’ Chris Thomas: Owners in most instances still is more can make extra money by renting out their vehicles when not in use. affordable. It did the math on the top 20 U.S. metro areas and the cost of drivers – the average found the average cost of vehicle cost-per-mile dropped to $0.89, ownership per mile was $0.90. on par with ownership. The average cost of using a hailed With autonomy, owners of pri- Uber or Lyft: $1.54 per mile. vate vehicles could lessen their However, that figure drops 20%- costs, too. 50% if rides are shared, using Fontinalis’ Thomas says an UberPool for instance. autonomous vehicle used to get Even factoring in the Holy Grail to and from work could, instead of of ride-hailing/ride-sharing – sitting parked in a garage or lot, go where autonomous cars eliminate around town doing tasks all day

WWARDSARDSAAUTOUTO 17 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

or part of the day, providing rev- remain the dominant mode of enue to a vehicle owner “and then transportation, Ford and others are be available to you at your leisure looking to help cities ease gridlock. throughout the day, whether in In London, the Blue Oval auto- between or at the end.” maker is in the early stages of the Fontinalis is an investor in Turo, commercial rollout of Go Park which allows private owners to and Go Park Pro smart park- make extra money now by renting ing meters. In partnership with out their (at this point, non-auton- Transport London, drivers can omous) vehicles in markets across locate and check in at a meter the globe. Getaround is a competi- via an app and are able to extend tor, albeit in fewer markets. their time by phone. When ready Even if owner-operated vehicles to leave, a driver “checks out.” This makes it easier to know who is overstaying in the space and to issue appropriate parking fines. Says Ford’s Rao: “That is going to improve how the city is able to monetize infrastructure…by get- ting people to use the available space to the fullest.” Ford also is in partnership with an urban planning organization to help cities rethink how to change the flow of traffic through busy intersections. VW is talking to public-transit companies on a partnership level “to make clear from the very first Getaround step that we are not competition search screen to them, but a very useful addi- on iPhone. tional service that can help public

WARDSAUTO 18 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

nudged up a day later, but in the following week was in the low $12-per-share range. Meanwhile, ride-hail king Uber, not yet publicly traded, has a higher valuation, on paper at least, than either GM or Ford: $69 billion. However, Uber barely has been profitable. It says it has turned a profit in the U.S. – a claim critics have challenged – but not globally. Even if autonomous vehicles elim- VW says transport to be more efficient inate the need for drivers in hailing MOIA and transport more people,” says or sharing fleets, the sheer number not “for marketing MOIA’s Fischer. of competitors in the space could purposes.” If automakers are trying to cast make profitability hard to come by, themselves as mobility-service for “old” automakers and “new” providers to please Wall Street, tech upstarts alike. and undoubtedly to an extent Because of the number of play- they are, it isn’t working yet. ers in the hailing and sharing On Jan. 21, 2016, the day GM space, consolidation likely will announced Maven, GM’s stock increase in coming years, says price opened at $29.46 a share Fontinalis’ Thomas. Some already and closed at $29.55. The next day has occurred. Turo rebranded it opened at $30.16 but closed at from RelayRides when it acquired $29.28. a startup called Wheels, and On Sept. 9, 2016, the day Ford GM acquired the assets of ride- announced it was buying the hail firm Sidecar just before it Chariot crowd-sourced shuttle launched Maven. service, its stock opened at “What you’re really seeing is the $12.61 and closed at $12.38. It OEMs are doing build-or-buy deci-

WARDSAUTO 19 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

sions,” Thomas says. “They’re try- That means more wear-and-tear ing to say, ‘Is this something we’re per car, which will benefit dealer going to build out in an organic service departments as well as fashion or are we going to acquire bring back customers, be they companies that are going to pro- individuals or fleets, more often vide us with customer networks for a replacement. WA that we want to deploy and grow through?’ How (future consoli- This story dation will) exhibit itself I don’t was written know,” he continues. “If some- by WardsAuto body tells you they do know, Senior Editor they’re lying to you.” Christie As for how hailing and sharing Schweinsberg, will impact vehicle sales and the with additional business of dealers, the future reporting from may be brighter than many think. James M. Amend, Bob Gritzinger, Hailed or shared vehicles accu- Tom Murphy, Drew Winter and mulate more miles than those David E. Zoia. Schweinsberg can that sit motionless save for morn- be reached at cschweinsberg@ ing and evening commutes. wardsauto.com.

WARDSAUTO 20 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

Key Players in New Mobility

only silver Audi A4s in in Brooklyn, Portland its fleets in more than a or Seattle, starting at a dozen U.S. cities. flat fee of $20 an hour. In In Stockholm, Sweden, December BMW launched Audi has a ride-sharing Ride, a ride-hailing AUDI service dubbed Audi service accessible via the ReachNow app in Seattle The Volkswagen-owned unite. “Invite your friends and plans to expand the luxury brand has a and family members to service to Portland and variety of car-sharing share an Audi with you other cities. schemes operating on or use the Audi unite a relatively small scale matching service to help This year in Germany in the U.S. The Audi you find compatible BMW plans to launch a on demand program drivers for your personal ride-hailing fleet of 40 launched two years unite circle,” Audi says self-driving vehicles in ago in San Francisco of the service, which has Munich, albeit with a and features concierge either fixed- or flex-rate trained driver behind service both for vehicle pricing available between the wheel. However, the drop-off and pickup. users and co-drivers. automaker looks forward Costs range from a to the day that isn’t $120-per-day A3 to a necessary. $1,145-per-day R8 V10 “Ride-hailing is nothing Plus. more than manual An Audi shared-fleet autonomous driving,” program launched as Tony Douglas, head of strategy for BMW’s a pilot last fall with just BMW three A4 sedans available mobility services, tells on a tech campus in ReachNow, a wholly Reuters. “Once you Durham, NC, with plans owned subsidiary of dispense with the driver to expand this year. the German automaker, you have a license to offers an app-based print money.” Audi is partnered with car-sharing service that rental-car newcomer Across Europe, BMW allows its 40,000-plus Silvercar for the shared- and rental-car firm Sixt users to find, unlock and fleet program. Audi in operate the DriveNow drive a fleet of 1,300 2016 invested $28 million car-sharing program, BMW and Mini vehicles in Silvercar, which stocks which at 6 years old

WARDSAUTO 21 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

is one of the oldest says Car2Go users have in early March opened automaker-affiliated taken more than 74 a Silicon Valley R&D lab sharing services. million trips since the focusing on artificial Available in 11 major service launched. intelligence and self- cities, including London, Daimler also operates driving technology. Berlin, Copenhagen, Moovel, which allows Stockholm and Milan, users to compare, DriveNow had 800,000 book and pay for local members and more transportation offerings than 5,800 vehicles in in a single app. In North use across Europe as of America there is Moovel September 2016. Transit, which allows users to book and pay for public-transit options via apps in several cities. FORD Perhaps the automaker most aggressive in transforming the mobility landscape, Ford owns and operates the Chariot DAIMLER ride-sharing shuttle Began in 2008 in DIDI CHUXING service, using Transit Germany, Car2Go bills China’s biggest Connect vans, in two U.S. itself as the world’s first transportation company cities. and largest free-floating reportedly has 400 Launched in 2014 but car-sharing company. It million users in 400 cities. acquired by Ford for $65 is a subsidiary of Daimler Its services include ride- million last September, with 2.2 million users hailing, ride-sharing, Chariot recently and operates a fleet of chauffeur-driven vehicles expanded from its home almost 14,000 Smart and and car rentals. It market of San Francisco Mercedes-Benz vehicles purchased Uber China in to Austin, TX, and is set in 26 locations across August for $35 billion and launch in eight more nine countries in Europe, is a partner of U.S. ride- cities in 2017, including North America and Asia, hailing company Lyft. one outside the U.S. A offering rentals by the Didi Chuxing received Chariot pilot program minute via smartphone is in operation at Lake app or website. Daimler a $1 billion investment from Apple last year and Tahoe-area ski resorts.

WARDSAUTO 22 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

Not to be confined to as of early February and the ability to drive up automobiles, Ford is recently rolled out a to 18 different vehicles collaborating with bike- monthlong rental option. per year. “White-glove” share firm Motivate in GM invested $500 million concierges drop off the San Francisco Bay in Lyft in 2016 with an and pick up vehicles on Area to solve last-minute eye toward collaborating demand via an app. mobility issues and with the ride-hailing firm increase available bikes. on a future on-demand Launching this year, users service of self-driving can book bikes through vehicles. GM also has the Ford GoBike option rentals available for Lyft GOOGLE on its FordPass “one-stop drivers. The tech company mobility app.” Through its former will offer a carpooling Long-term, Ford is aiming Opel subsidiary, GM feature through its Waze to launch in 2021 an operated a Maven-style navigation app this year autonomous ride-hailing service in Germany in the U.S. and Latin business to serve millions called CarUnity, which America, after testing the of customers. It also is allows users to offer their service in Tel Aviv and working with various own car as a rental or San Francisco. Google municipalities around the rent models of various aims to get the “average globe on schemes to ease brands, including Opel. person on his way to traffic congestion. Some 60 Opel dealers work to pick someone were participating as up and drop them off,” a of last summer. PSA Waze exec tells the Wall recently acquired Opel Street Journal. and its assets. In January, GM’s Cadillac brand launched the BOOK subscription service in the New York GENERAL MOTORS metropolitan area. For a flat month-to-month GM’s Maven car-sharing fee of $1,500, inclusive service now is available of maintenance and HERTZ in 17 U.S. cities and insurance, users can lets users select from a select from a variety Not standing idly by variety of GM models. It of premium-trim-level letting automakers had 23,231 customers Cadillac models, with gobble up a new revenue

WARDSAUTO 23 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

stream, the old guard of vehicle thanks to ads on national expansion plan. car-sharing is offering the car, is set to launch It is a partner of ride- discounted rates to 250 more Ioniq EVs into hailing company Didi Uber and Lyft drivers for car-sharing fleets in San Chuxing in China, ride- weekly rentals in select Francisco, Austin and hailing car and taxi U.S. cities. Insurance is New York later in the service Grab in Southeast included and no credit year. Asia and app-based taxi check for drivers is Hyundai also has a service Ola in India. Last necessary if they pay subscription program year Lyft received a $500 with a credit card. in California for the million investment from Hertz rival Enterprise Ioniq EV, driven by the General Motors. also rents to Uber drivers smartphone-subscription for discounted rates, model that is all-inclusive includes insurance of monthly payments and coverage and requires no fees, minus insurance. credit check. Hyundai officials say research shows vehicle buyers, especially Millennials, want to sign their name and swipe their credit card just once. TOYOTA The Japanese automaker made an undisclosed investment in peer-to- HYUNDAI peer car-sharing firm Partnering with Getaround last fall. WaiveCar of Los Toyota will allow those Angeles, which bills living in San Francisco itself as the world’s and buying or leasing first ad-supported car- a new Toyota or Lexus sharing, Hyundai will through Toyota Financial place 150 Ioniq electric Services to make vehicles into service in LYFT money on the side by Los Angeles in first-half A U.S.-only ride-hailing placing their car into 2017. rival to Uber is in 300 Getaround’s rental fleet. WaiveCar, which offers cities. Lyft reportedly Toyota will make certain two hours’ free use of a is mounting an inter- Lexus models available

WARDSAUTO 24 | MARCH 2017 THE BIG STORY

for sharing through Hertz. It also offers Getaround in San ride-sharing through its Francisco. UberPool business. In addition, Toyota also Uber is heavily pursuing invested an undisclosed self-driving cars at its sum in Uber last year, advanced-technologies with Toyota Financial center in Pittsburgh and Services providing special will expand research financing rates to Uber with an R&D center in the drivers wishing to lease Detroit area. the automaker’s vehicles.

VOLKSWAGEN VW Group formed the MOIA mobility group, considered the company’s 13th brand, last year to pursue new- mobility ventures. UBER Similar to Ford’s Perhaps the best-known Chariot, VW is planning ride-hailing firm and the on-demand shuttle biggest by user base in service in Germany and the U.S. Uber reportedly hopes to expand it to 30 had half-a-billion users or 40 cities within five in more than 500 cities years. worldwide as of last fall. VW invested $300 million Uber allows its drivers last year in ride-hailing to lease vehicles via an company Gett, which in-house company or rent is in 60 cities and uses vehicles in partnership taxis and black cars to with Enterprise and transport passengers.

WARDSAUTO 25 | MARCH 2017