Under the new brand name “ReachNow”, BMW Group is launching an enhanced car sharing service in the US city of Seattle. It says the programme is based on the successful business model currently operating in Europe under the name “DriveNow”.
Customers in the US will soon be able to choose further “future-oriented services for bespoke individual mobility”. ReachNow is starting in Seattle with an initial fleet of 370 BMW and MINI vehicles. Some 20 percent of the entire fleet is made up of BMW i3 electric vehicles. In addition to Seattle, ReachNow will be expanded into further cities in the USA, the company says.
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BMW said the move is in line with the company’s strategy “NUMBER ONE > NEXT”, outlined by BMW Chairman Harald Krüger three weeks ago. The strategy states that the development of customer-oriented mobility services will be one of the company’s central business fields in the years ahead.
Peter Schwarzenbauer, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG and responsible for MINI, BMW Motorrad, Rolls-Royce, After Sales and Mobility Services said at the ReachNow launch in Seattle: “We are currently witnessing an extremely exciting period in the development of the automotive industry. Our customers rightly expect uncomplicated and fast solutions to their individual mobility needs, especially in metropolitan regions. This is why we are supplementing our classic business model with additional services that make life on the road easier for people in big cities. I am pleased that with the establishment of the ReachNow brand, we are able to offer our customers in Seattle “on-demand mobility” – mobility when it’s needed, from one single source. With this service, we are building up on Drive Now, our extremely successful European business model, and bringing it up to a new level in the USA. Seattle is an innovative, internationally-oriented city which makes it the perfect location to launch these services.”
