Daimler to expand mobility portfolio by completing acquisition of car2go Europe for €70mn

Daimler is primed to acquire 100% control of German carsharing service car2go Europe for €70mn from Europcar Group.

The automotive giant already had a 75% controlling stake in the Stuttgart-based company but will strengthen its position in the mobility services market on conclusion of the deal. 

The acquisition will fuel rumours about Daimler's reported intentions to merge car2go with BMW's mobility service DriveNow, creating a leader in a market that has seen exponential growth in recent years.

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car2go, founded in 2008, has more than 3mn users in Europe, North America and China and achieved 24mn rentals in 2017 alone. Daimler says the deal will hasten its shift to a 'fully connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicle' future.

"Over the course of the last several months, we have intensified our investments in mobility services in order to create a holistic mobility system with a broad portfolio. As part of this strategy, we decided to fully acquire the remaining shares in car2go Europe," said Daimler’s Head of Mobility Services Jörg Lamparter.

In addition to car2go, Daimler Mobility Services is responsible for moovel and mytaxi, with almost 18mn customers are registered to the three companies in more than 100 cities.