Showing posts with label car2go. Show all posts

On course for success: More than 100,000car2go customers

By | Published Saturday, 26 May 2012

Daimler’s car2go subsidiary remains in the fast lane: In just six months, both the number of customers using the service and the number of rental transactions worldwide have doubled. The market leader in the area of flexible short-term vehicle rentals is thus continuing its rapid growth unabated. In fact, car2go is the fastest-growing carsharing company in the world. The system is now in place in 12 cities throughout Europe and North America; more than 100,000 customers have registered as members, and vehicles have been rented more than two million times. On average, a car2go vehicle is rented every eight seconds. The smart fortwo two-seater models used in the car2go system have proved to be ideal for urban mobility applications ever since the system was first launched in the Southern German city of Ulm in March 2009. The vehicles, which are manufactured in variants specifically designed for car2go, have since clocked up roughly 20 million kilometers. In most of the cities where the program is available, car2go is now being successfully operated in a joint venture with Europe’s leading car rental company, Europcar.

“car2go is an incredible success story, and it will continue to rapidly expand its business operations in the future,” says Klaus Entenmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Financial Services, who is responsible for car2go at the Daimler Group. “We’ll be operating in around 20 cities by the end of the year, and the number of customers we serve will certainly once again rise sharply.”

car2go GmbH Managing Director Robert Henrich says, “Two million car2go rentals not only make us happy; they also show just how enthusiastic our 100,000 customers are about the system. As a pioneer and the only international company to offer such a flexible short-term rental service, we also now have a wealth of experience, in large part due to our ongoing dialogue with our customers. This is enabling us to expand rapidly all over the world and to further improve our service in line with customer feedback.”

More than 4,000 smart fortwo vehicles are currently operating in the 12 car2go cities, including 625 battery-electric smart fortwo electric drive models, which are being used in Amsterdam, San Diego, and Ulm. The regularly scheduled maintenance and cleaning of the cars makes the system extremely reliable and leads to great customer satisfaction.

Credits: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

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Daimler’s car2go Continues Carsharing Expansion from Coast to Coast

By | Published Thursday, 1 March 2012

car2go North America, LLC, a subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, announced today it will launch in two new cities, from coast to coast in March 2012. The car2go carsharing service will be available in Washington, D.C. beginning March 24 and in Portland, Oregon beginning March 31.


“car2go is an integral part of Daimler's overall mobility service strategy,” said Bodo Uebber, member of the Board of Management at Daimler AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler Financial Services, the division of Daimler that has recently assumed responsibility for car2go. “And the success speaks for itself: Starting with an innovative idea three years ago, car2go today is a benchmark mobility business that expands rapidly.”

“Already more than 70,000 people worldwide are car2go members, using our smart urban transportation each and every day,” Uebber went on to say. “We will continue this success story by bringing car2go to further cities worldwide step by step,” said Klaus Entenmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Financial Services.

The car2go program will provide the people who live, work and visit Washington D.C. and Portland with a smart transportation solution that is designed for rapidly growing urban areas. “In each car2go city, we provide a carsharing service that helps ease congestion, reduce emissions and provide a viable automobility solution that complements public transportation,” said Nicholas Cole, President & CEO of car2go North America. “The people who live, work and visit the vibrant cities of Washington D.C. and Portland already embrace a variety of transportation options, and we are excited to bring them the unsurpassed convenience and flexibility of the car2go way of carsharing.”

As the world’s first-free floating carsharing service, car2go provides a new way of carsharing that is unique, particularly in these three areas:

- BY THE MINUTE: Members pay only for the time they use the car, by the minute, with discounted rates for hourly and daily use. There is no minimum amount of time that a car can be used - whether a member needs a car for 10 minutes or an entire day - members simply get in and drive, for as long as they want without a mandatory return time. Parking, fuel, maintenance and insurance are included at no additional cost, and there are no annual or monthly fees.

- ON DEMAND: Members can use the first available car2go they find, via a smart phone app, the car2go vehicle finder at car2go.com, by calling the customer call center, or by simply locating an available car2go on the street. There is no need to make a reservation in advance because members have unrestricted and unlimited access to car2go vehicles 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

- FREE FLOATING: Members can pick up and drop off any car2go anywhere within the car2go Home Area - in any legal on-street parking space, including metered, nonmetered and residential neighborhoods parking spaces. Members do not need to drive the car back to its original location or commit to a predetermined amount of time. They can simply drive the car for as long as they need it, park the car at their individual destination, end the rental by swiping the card on the windshield reader, and instantly the car becomes available for the next member to use.
At the end of March, car2go will begin to phase-in more than 200 smart fortwo cars in each of the two cities, with the official launch dates set for March 24 in Washington D.C. and March 31 in Portland, Oregon.

Registration for both cities opens today, and for a limited time, car2go is offering new members in Washington D.C. and Portland free registration and 30 free minutes of driving time.

For more information about the special promotions, please visit WashingtonDC.car2go.com and Portland.car2go.com . Additional information about car2go can be found at www.car2go.com .
Credits: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

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Lyon Welcomes Innovative Mobility Service: 200 car2go Ready For Use Beginning February 1st

By | Published Wednesday, 1 February 2012

car2go Europe GmbH, a joint venture between car2go GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, and Europcar, the leader in car rental services in Europe, launched today the car2go service in Lyon, France. car2go provides Lyon residents with a fleet of 200 low-emission, self-service smart fortwo micro compact cars. As the world’s first mobility program with maximum flexibility and without fixed rental locations, car2go offers its members an opportunity to spontaneously rent vehicles anytime and anywhere without having to specify a time or place of return in advance.


“Innovative urban mobility solutions like car2go offer a way to help meet the challenges of urban congestion, reducing carbon emissions and improving quality of life,” said Gérard Collomb, Mayor of Lyon and President of ”‘Grand Lyon”. “Following the actions we initiated in 2005 with Velo’v, the first self-service bike sharing system, Lyon is innovating again with car2go, a new approach to car sharing which is complementary to other initiatives enabling our residents to move around town. Choosing Lyon, Europcar and Daimler strengthen the role of our city being one of the European leaders in terms of sustainable mobility.”

“We are excited to make our French debut in a city which is well-known for its innovation in the sector of urban transportation,” said Marcus Spickermann, Chief Financial Officer of the car2go Group. “More than 60.000 customers worldwide are using car2go in their daily lives, and we are convinced that car2go is a perfect fit for Lyon residents too.”

The car2go vehicles can be rented and returned within an operating area of 44 square kilometres covering the Lyon city centre. Members can find car2go vehicles spontaneously on the street, via the internet at www.car2go.com, and with the help of several smartphone applications. The vehicle selected can be unlocked using a personal membership card. At the end of the trip, car2go drivers do not have to bring the car2go back to where the trip started. They can simply leave the car at their destination - at any public parking space and at all Lyon carsharing-stations inside the car2go business area. Parking fees are included in the per-minute rental fee at no additional cost.

Lyon residents can register at www.car2go.com, and at the new car2go shop at Le Terra Mundi – 2 place de Francfort in Lyon. Until February 11th, 2012, Lyon residents can benefit from the special launch discount and save more than 10 Euro by only paying 4,90 Euro registration fee and receiving 60 free driving minutes. For members who register after February 11th, 2012, there will be a one-time registration fee of 14,90 Euro.

Customers pay only for the actual time they use the vehicle, by the minute, with discounted rates for hourly and daily use. The rental prices in Lyon are 0,29 Euro per driving minute, 12,90 Euro per hour and 39 Euro per day (24 hours). During stopovers, which can be used for example while shopping, a special parking rate of 0,09 Euro per minute will be calculated. Fuel, insurance, taxes and parking costs are fully included in the price that furthermore includes mileage up to 20 kilometres. Additional kilometres will cost 0,29 Euro each. Experience shows that the average range of a car2go rental is between 5 and 10 kilometres so the extra mileage costs are only relevant for those members who wish to leave the city and come back.

“The 2010 Europcar’s Transportation and Mobility Observatory showed that 47% of European urban drivers are considering giving up their cars and 61% of them consider that cars available in self service are an attractive mobility option. car2go will provide Lyon people with a fully-flexible service, combined with short term car rental services for a fully comprehensive mobility solution” said Philippe Guillemot, CEO of Europcar Groupe.

Thanks to a cooperation between car2go and the bikesharing service Vélo’v, Vélo’v customers will benefit from the reduced car2go registration fee of 9,90 Euro including 30 free driving minutes at any time.

car2go has already been successfully launched in seven cities: in Ulm and Hamburg (Germany), in Amsterdam (Netherlands), in Vienna (Austria), in Austin and San Diego (USA), and in Vancouver (Canada). The German city of Düsseldorf is going to follow soon – Lyon is the first home of car2go in France. A total of more than 2.000 car2go vehicles are currently on the road and more than 60.000 members have registered for the service worldwide.
Credits: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

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