Until now, the trajectory of the Car2go carsharing service has been growth, growth, growth. But the expansion has hit a snag in jolly old England, where Daimler has announced it will shut down operations there. This means that the two Car2go UK locations, London and Birmingham, will no longer offer one-way, short-term car rentals as of tomorrow.
Car2go is blaming "the UK's strong culture and tradition of private vehicle ownership" for the failure of the carsharing program in England. The company isn't giving up yet, and says it will "continue to observe the UK market for cultural changes towards the 'free-floating [carsharing] model'." UK Car2go members will still be able to use their moovel-accounts at Car2go projects in other European cities. The problem, a spokesman told Reuters, is that Car2go never registered over 10,000 users in the UK. Globally, there are over 750,000 Car2go users.
Car2go started offering trips in the UK in the fall of 2012, when things were much more positive. The company said that it convinced the City of Birmingham to partner with it on a urban mobility pilot project thanks to Car2go's "unique features and many years of global experience in the sector of urban mobility."
Car2go is blaming "the UK's strong culture and tradition of private vehicle ownership" for the failure of the carsharing program in England. The company isn't giving up yet, and says it will "continue to observe the UK market for cultural changes towards the 'free-floating [carsharing] model'." UK Car2go members will still be able to use their moovel-accounts at Car2go projects in other European cities. The problem, a spokesman told Reuters, is that Car2go never registered over 10,000 users in the UK. Globally, there are over 750,000 Car2go users.
Car2go started offering trips in the UK in the fall of 2012, when things were much more positive. The company said that it convinced the City of Birmingham to partner with it on a urban mobility pilot project thanks to Car2go's "unique features and many years of global experience in the sector of urban mobility."
WITHDRAWAL FROM UK MARKET
car2go, the pioneer of "free-floating" car sharing, will be withdrawing from the UK with effect from 30 May 2014. We've listened closely to customer feedback and taking the UK's strong culture and tradition of private vehicle ownership into account, we have decided to withdraw from the UK market place. car2go launched in Birmingham in 2013 and has been operating in three London boroughs since December 2012. The unique challenges we encountered were more significant than expected.
As the world's largest free-floating carsharing provider, we will continue to observe the UK market for cultural changes towards the "free-floating model". car2go will continue to be a worldwide success story as we operate in a total of 25 cities around the World with more than 700,000 customers.
With a moovel-account and a validated driving licence you will be still able to use car2go in all other 12 European car2go cities.
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CLOSURE OF CAR2GO BIRMINGHAM AND WITHDRAWAL FROM UK MARKET
car2go, the pioneer of "free-floating" car sharing, will be withdrawing from Birmingham with effect from 30 May 2014. We've listened closely to customer feedback and taking the UK's strong culture and tradition of private vehicle ownership into account, we have decided to withdraw from the UK market place. We'd like to say 'thank you' to everyone who has used car2go in Birmingham and London.
As the world's largest free-floating carsharing provider, we will continue to observe the UK market for cultural changes towards the "free-floating model". car2go will continue to be a worldwide success story as we operate in a total of 25 cities around the World with more than 700,000 customers.
With a moovel-account and a validated driving licence you will be still able to use car2go in all other 12 European car2go cities.
car2go, the pioneer of "free-floating" car sharing, will be withdrawing from the UK with effect from 30 May 2014. We've listened closely to customer feedback and taking the UK's strong culture and tradition of private vehicle ownership into account, we have decided to withdraw from the UK market place. car2go launched in Birmingham in 2013 and has been operating in three London boroughs since December 2012. The unique challenges we encountered were more significant than expected.
As the world's largest free-floating carsharing provider, we will continue to observe the UK market for cultural changes towards the "free-floating model". car2go will continue to be a worldwide success story as we operate in a total of 25 cities around the World with more than 700,000 customers.
With a moovel-account and a validated driving licence you will be still able to use car2go in all other 12 European car2go cities.
===
CLOSURE OF CAR2GO BIRMINGHAM AND WITHDRAWAL FROM UK MARKET
car2go, the pioneer of "free-floating" car sharing, will be withdrawing from Birmingham with effect from 30 May 2014. We've listened closely to customer feedback and taking the UK's strong culture and tradition of private vehicle ownership into account, we have decided to withdraw from the UK market place. We'd like to say 'thank you' to everyone who has used car2go in Birmingham and London.
As the world's largest free-floating carsharing provider, we will continue to observe the UK market for cultural changes towards the "free-floating model". car2go will continue to be a worldwide success story as we operate in a total of 25 cities around the World with more than 700,000 customers.
With a moovel-account and a validated driving licence you will be still able to use car2go in all other 12 European car2go cities.
Featured Gallery Car2go in London
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