Car sharing company Miles Mobility has acquired Volkswagen WeShare and revealed plans to invest in 10,000 electric vehicles.

Miles Mobility will integrate the WeShare car sharing business into its existing portfolio

The deal, made for an undisclosed amount, includes the wider UMI Urban Mobility International GmbH division, which will be integrated into the Miles portfolio and enable the expansion of the business.

As part of the agreement, Volkswagen will deliver 10,000 all-electric vehicles to Miles from 2023, spanning its Audi, Seat/Cupra and Volkswagen Passenger Cars brands.

In turn, the newly rebranded Miles Mobility Solution will be integrated into Volkswagen’s mobility platform as part of plans to offer “a broad spectrum of different mobility services”.

Dr Christian Dahlheim, chairman of the Board of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, said: “New mobility services such as car subscription models and car sharing are enjoying strong demand. This is a trend in which we would like to participate more. With a strong partner to operate the fleet and with vehicles from various Volkswagen Group brands, car sharing will become available to an even broader spectrum of customers.”

The tie-up will also benefit WeShare customers through an expanded base that currently runs across eight cities in Germany and gains two sites in Brussels and Ghent this autumn.

Founded in 2019 in Berlin, WeShare currently operates around 2,000 all-electric Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 vehicles at its Berlin and Hamburg locations – with a total of more than 200,000 users.

It joins the Miles car sharing fleet, which currently consists of more than 9,000 vehicles, around 70% of which are supplied by the VW Group.

Oliver Mackprang, CEO of Miles Mobility GmbH, said: “The electrification of the fleet is a key pillar of the Miles strategy on the path to sustainable urban transportation. With the acquisition of WeShare and its integration into the Miles ecosystem, we are making a significant step in the right direction. We are pleased to expand our long-standing collaboration with the Volkswagen Group through this mobility partnership.”

Earlier this year, a consortium led by Volkswagen became the controlling majority shareholder of Europcar – which it says is another key pillar of the group’s future mobility platform.

A VW Group spokesperson added: “The goal is to offer customers a broad spectrum of different mobility services, ranging from car sharing for a few hours to a car subscription for several months. The platform shall also be open to providers from outside the Volkswagen Group, like Miles, in order to increase economies of scale and customer benefits. In this way, the group intends to participate in the globally growing markets for mobility services.”