The European Commission has approved the merger of BMW Group and Daimler AG’s mobility services business units, subject to conditions.
The deal will see the two rival manufacturers bring together services in five areas (on-demand mobility, car sharing, ride-hailing, parking and charging) in a 50:50 joint venture, with the aim of becoming a “leading provider” in the mobility market.
However, Fleet News claimed that they will not begin merging their mobility services until the deal has also been approved by antitrust authorities in North America.
The new venture will give BMW and Daimler scale, enabling them to take on the likes of Uber and Lyft. It will include the merger of BMW’s DriveNow, which recently expanded in London, and Daimler’s car2go.
