BMW Earns Profit By The Minute With Car Sharing: Is Ownership Dead?

DriveNow GmbH, a joint car-sharing venture between BMW and Sixt AG has begun turning a profit, and one of its closest competitors, which is Daimler’s Car2Go, should be “back in the black” by next year.

Green Car Reports pointed out that increased car rental may be partially motivated by increased environmental awareness, but for what reason?

Renting a car still entails using a car, so it may sound odd for people to rent cars instead of buying one to reduce their environmental footprint. Fortunately, car rental could and likely will play a very important role in reducing the environmental footprints of those that use public transportation. Those who drive small cars, but would rather occasionally rent large SUVs and trucks to avoid delivery costs, and to avoid buying these large, inefficient vehicles. Urban residents can even get around owning any car at all.

Some people can use public transportation most of the time, but the trains and buses don’t go everywhere. Car sharing allows members to rent a car on very short notice, and the fact that car sharing businesses are starting to turn a profit shows how much promise is in this business model. Avis recently purchased ZipCar, an American car-sharing agency, for $500 million, and BMW’s DriveNow program is proving very popular in Europe. Might there be a day when more people “share” cars than own them?

Source: Green Car Reports