Being a "big picture" type of company, BMW knows that it will probably sell more vehicles if prospective owners, especially those in urban areas, are confident they will be able to find places to park them. Toward that end, earlier this month the BMW Group acquired Parkmobile, LLC, which is the largest provider of mobile parking services in North America. That makes the BMW Group a leading international provider of digital parking solutions.
BMW's move toward solving urban parking situations fits closely with its Number One > Next corporate strategy.
“Up to 30 percent of city traffic is caused by people looking for parking spaces. The acquisition of Parkmobile, LLC makes us the leading international provider of digital parking solutions and means we can better address the pain point of parking by scaling our offering for customers worldwide,” said Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW AG Board of Management member for Mini, Rolls-Royce, BMW Motorrad, Customer Engagement, and Digital Business Innovation BMW Group.
Parkmobile, LLC is based in Atlanta, Gerorga and currently operates with more than 100 employees. Parkmobile services are offered in more than 300 U.S. cities. Parkmobile Group Europe, which includes the ParkNow brand, has been owned by the BMW Group since April 2016, so the acquisition of the North American company is no surprise.
“We are proud of what Parkmobile has already achieved and look forward to working with our new colleagues to scale the business even further,” said Bernhard Blättel, head of BMW Group's Mobility Services.
Between the North American and European Parkmobile brands, the company covers more than 22,000,000 customers in more than 1,000 cities.
“The BMW Group has always been on the forefront of disruptive mobility technology. Having access to new capital as well as the BMW Group’s global network of partners and customers puts us in an excellent position to accelerate our growth and expand further beyond North America. We could not imagine a better partner,” said Jon Ziglar, CEO of Parkmobile, LLC.
Any driver in any vehicle brand may use Parkmobile's service, which allows ticketless and cashless on-street parking using an app or directly from an appropriately connected vehicle. Parkmobile can also help drivers find, reserve, and pay for off-street parking in garages.
As BMW executives have pointed out before, one of the biggest luxuries is time. If we can waste less time finding and paying for city parking spaces using the BMW Group's Parkmobile services, that could be a luxury well worth paying for.—Scott Blazey
[Photo courtesy of BMW AG.]
