Volkswagen to launch an all-electric car sharing service in 2019

With the decline in car ownership for young people and increased interest in all-electric vehicles, German manufacturer Volkswagen is announcing a new all-electric car-sharing platform called ‘WE’ that will launch next year to boost lineup, following the lead of rivals such as Daimler and BMW that have operated their own on-demand car rental services for years.

VW will initially launch its car-sharing service in Germany next year and then expand the entire fleet of electric vehicles to major global cities in Europe, North America and Asia beginning in 2020. Volkswagen, which also counts the Audi, Porsche and Skoda brands among others, last year delivered a total of 10.7 million cars.

As per a report by Techcrunch, this shift into car sharing by world’s one of the biggest carmaker, is a part of a strategy to tackle the seismic shift toward electric cars and digital services. New Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess has assured to turn VW into a global provider of mobility beyond the manufacturing and selling of vehicles to ward off new competitors and acquire market share in new business areas.

“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,” VW brand head of sales Juergen Stackmann said at a press conference in Berlin.

The German automaker’s WE business is designed to go beyond just car-sharing. Initially the focus of WE vehicle-on-demand platform will be on car sharing. But eventually, it will include other modes of transportation such as e-scooters.