Stellantis has signed a deal to acquire BMW and Mercedes’ joint car sharing company Share Now, further expanding its work in global mobility.

The Share Now acquisition will add 14 major European cities and 10,000 vehicles to Free2move’s existing car sharing fleet of 2,500 vehicles

The acquisition is being made through Stellantis’ Free2move division and will add 14 major European cities and 10,000 vehicles to its existing car sharing fleet of 2,500 vehicles.

Share Now was formed by Mercedes-Benz Mobility Group and BMW Group in 2019 as part of a tie-up between the two firms to bring drivers and fleets a single source for everything from ride-hailing to EV charging. Other divisions featured in the JV include Charge Now, Free Now for taxi ride-hailing and Park Now.

Stellantis said the Share Now acquisition would position Free2move as the car-sharing leader, adding 14 new European cities to its seven existing mobility hubs in the United States and Europe and enhancing existing technology expertise. Free2move will also gain a further 3.4 million plus customers to its existing 2 million users.

The deal also provides a strategic step towards the Stellantis Dare Forward 2030 goal of growing its profitable mobility service, thanks to economies of scale and synergies.

Brigitte Courtehoux, Free2move CEO, said: “Integrating Share Now’s strong position in major European cities will allow our customers to gain greater access to a wider range of services to satisfy their varied mobility needs. Equally important, this acquisition will also accelerate our profitable growth. We are now a step closer to achieving our goal of expanding Free2move’s worldwide presence to 15 million active users by 2030.”

The latest announcement follows the recent news of Free2move’s acquisition of Opel Rent, accelerating its growth strategy in Germany and Austria and pushing the transition from rent to mobility provider. Free2move is also accelerating its growth state-side, with service now available in Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, Denver, Colorado, Columbus, Ohio and Austin, Texas.

Mercedes and BMW said the sale of its car-sharing subsidiary formed part of the realignment of the mobility joint ventures, which would see the focus move to the Free Now and Charge Now ventures due to their high growth potential.

Gero Götzenberger, director of strategy and investments at Mercedes-Benz Mobility, said: “We are proud to have founded the free-floating car sharing segment with Car2go. Although Mercedes-Benz will focus more strongly on its core business in the luxury segment, car sharing will remain an important part of urban mobility and an essential element in the mobility offer at Free Now. With Free Now and Charge Now, we are focusing on two growth segments that will continue to offer our customers the entire range of mobility services in the future and support the expansion of electric mobility.”

The completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.