You’re young, you live in a big city, your Mini Cooper sometimes sits for days because you don’t need it all the time. Would you like to pick up some extra cash by letting BMW rent out your car while you’re not using it? That’s exactly the question BMW will ask new Mini Clubman buyers.
DriveNow is a joint venture between BMW and the German rental car firm Sixt. It provides car-sharing services in many European cities plus San Francisco and Seattle. To be able to rent DriveNow cars, customers pay a registration fee, a basic usage fee, and per-minute rates. They can use smartphones to find and reserve vehicles, which are available at designated locations or often, in a parking spot on the street.
Many young urban dwellers are opting out of vehicle ownership in favor of car-sharing services. This latest offer from BMW may be an attempt to convince them that owning a car still has some advantages.
“When you don’t need it, your car can work for you and you can make money,” said Peter Schwarzenbauer, a BMW executive board member in charge of the Mini brand. He added, “We are the first company that will offer a car-sharing option that each customer will be able to offer with their private car.”
The new, just-released Mini Clubman is a larger version of the iconic little British car.
BMW will try out its buy-a-Mini-then–share-it strategy in the United States, where its DriveNow service is one of the largest car-sharing services. BMW will offer the service later in China and Europe.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
