Volkswagen will launch an on-demand shuttle service called MOIA next year using a new design of electric bus. Users will be able to hail shuttles using an app and get picked up from designated points at short notice. If there is only one passenger asking for a particular journey, the trip may be outsourced to partners, such as Gett. The service will launch in Munich and Hamburg before starting in two major European cities by the end of next year. BMW plans to tap into the ride-hailing market with a fleet of 40 autonomous cars to begin testing in Berlin next year. The German carmaker is set to spend billions on the "pay-per-use" transport market, albeit using trained test drivers in their autonomous vehicles. Tony Douglas, BMW’s head of strategy for mobility and services, has dubbed the sector a "license to print money", and said that in four days, 14,000 people signed up for the service, in a market served by four other players. Short-term renting and peer-to-peer car sharing will replace traditional car ownership, according to Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson. The Swedish carmaker will focus on providing autonomous cars in the same way as Uber or Lyft. For customers who wanted to have a car for a longer period of time, Samuelsson suggested the use of a monthly subscription model.
Volkswagen will launch an on-demand shuttle service called MOIA next year using a new design of electric bus. Users will be able to hail shuttles using an app and get picked up from designated points at short notice. If there is only one passenger asking for a particular journey, the trip may be outsourced to partners, such as Gett. The service will launch in Berlin and Hamburg before starting in two major European cities by the end of next year. BMW plans to tap into the ride-hailing market with a fleet of 40 autonomous cars to begin testing in Munich next year. The German carmaker is set to spend billions on the "pay-per-use" transport market, albeit using trained test drivers in their autonomous vehicles. Tony Douglas, BMW’s head of strategy for mobility and services, has dubbed the sector a "license to print money", and said that in four days, 14,000 people signed up for the service, in a market served by four other players. Short-term renting and peer-to-peer car sharing will replace traditional car ownership, according to Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson. The Swedish carmaker will focus on providing autonomous cars in the same way as Uber or Lyft. For customers who wanted to have a car for a longer period of time, Samuelsson suggested the use of a monthly subscription model.