BMW: car rental and car-sharing as Value-Added Services

The German car manufacturer BMW bets on diversifying their services. Through their US subsidiary, they launched a leasing offer which combines car rental, carpooling and car-sharing. This car rental solution is intended to meet individual customers’ needs in terms of flexibility.

This new leasing solution has been launched the same day they acquired a stake in Sixt’s car-sharing service DriveNow. This program will then rely on the manufacturer’s mobility and car-sharing services.

The offer called “Car & Ride Sharing Lease” is meant to boost car-sharing activities so car rental may become more accessible. The idea is to rent a BMW or Mini vehicle, and allow drivers to save on related expenses, through sharing their car or driving for ride-sharing services such as Lyft or Uber.

The offer is first made available in California, Oregon and Washington. This comes as no surprise since the manufacturer already offers carpooling services in these three States, through their ReachNow platform.

Comments – A winning combination

Just like many other car manufacturers, BMW is aiming to propose a wide range of mobility-related services. This premium German brand managed to successfully build an ecosystem which includes various services based on next-generation technologies. Mobility is one of their main axes for development.

BMW pioneers in unveiling a new approach to considering the way their customers use their cars. The group already lets them rent a car, propose their own car for rental, and even use car-sharing services. Considering the current growth of the carpooling/car-sharing market, they are adding extra flexibility to their leasing offer, and featuring rather attractive terms of use.

Likewise, and by way of reflecting the success of long-term leasing offers in France, BlaBlaCar also launched a long-term car rental service, accessible through their carpooling app, for their ambassador members.