Daimler\, BMW to invest 1 billion euros in venture to rival Uber

Daimler, BMW to invest 1 billion euros in venture to rival Uber

Reuters  |  BERLIN 

(Reuters) - German carmakers and unveiled a joint ride-hailing, parking and charging business on Friday to compete with provided by and other tech firms.

Consultancy PwC has said carmakers face marginalisation by unless they develop services based on vehicle usage.

Established ride-hailing firms have been expanding. China's Didi Chuxing aims to build its business in and is gaining a stranglehold on its U.S. market.

"Further cooperation with other providers, including stakes in startups and established players, are also a possible option," Daimler's said.

Daimler's brand will be combined with BMW's DriveNow, ParkNow and ChargeNow businesses, with both carmakers holding 50 percent stake in the venture.

The venture has five strands: REACH NOW, a and booking service, CHARGE NOW for charging, FREE NOW for taxi ride-hailing, PARK NOW for parking services and SHARE NOW for

"These five services will merge ever more closely to form a single mobility service portfolio with an all-electric, self-driving fleet of vehicles that charge and park autonomously," said

and are working to develop autonomous cars, vehicles which could enable them to up-end the market for taxi and

($1 = 0.8819 euros)

(Reporting by Irene Presinger; Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Ludwig Burger and Edmund Blair)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Fri, February 22 2019. 16:51 IST