BMW expands its car-sharing service DriveNow in London

BMW is enlarging its car-sharing service DriveNow into five other London boroughs as the automaker overcomes some of the barriers to run across the city where firms need to strike agreements with independent local authorities.

Daimler axed its car2go operation from London in 2014 after it proved more tougher than anticipated to coordinate between 33 districts and motivate motorists out of their own cars.

BMW’s car club, which appeals to those who want to give up vehicle ownership, has more than 1 million users and 6,000 vehicles in several German cities, London, Copenhagen, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Helsinki and Lisbon.

The scheme introduced in London in 2014 and will go from four boroughs to nine with its expansion into Westminster, Barnet, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Brent, expanding its overall fleet to 720 BMW and Mini cars in Britain’s capital city.

“It was always the vision of DriveNow to expand to more parts of London and underlines the great potential that we have seen in this city from the start,” stated DriveNow CEO Sebastian Hofelich.