Volkswagen Group to offer electric car sharing services

Volkswagen Group has announced plans to offer car sharing and other on-demand services through its WE customer platform. These services will start in Germany in 2019 and extend to major cities in Europe, North America and Asia from 2020.

Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Sales, Jürgen Stackmann, said: “We are convinced that the car sharing market still has potential. That is why we are entering this market with a holistic single-source concept covering all mobility needs from the short journey that takes just a few minutes to the long vacation trip. Our vehicle-on-demand fleets will consist entirely of electric cars, and will therefore provide zero-emission, sustainable mobility. That is an intelligent way to relieve the strain on urban areas.”

Vehicle-on-demand services from the WE customer platform, which could also be used to provide services such as a parking app or location based vouchering, are also designed to complement the mobility solutions offered by MOIA. MOIA’s products focus above all on ride hailing and pooling services.

The vehicle-on-demand services available on the Volkswagen WE platform will be managed by UMI Urban Mobility International GmbH, Berlin (www.urban-mobility.io), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG led by CEO Philip Reth, which began operating this year.

Philip Reth commented: “Our customers expect an environmentally-friendly fleet that takes them to their destination quickly and at a fair price – and that is exactly the experience we will be delivering.”