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BMW negotiates Daimler alliance, buys out car-service partner Sixt

Sixt sells its stake in DriveNow car-sharing to BMW BMW in talks with Daimler to combine car-sharing Combining car-sharing business to aid robotaxi plans FRANKFURT — Germany's BMW has bought out partner Sixt from their joint venture DriveNow, paving the way for a broader car-sharing and driverless taxi alliance with Daimler to compete against Uber and Lyft. Car rental company Sixt said on Monday it would generate an extraordinary pre-tax profit of about 200 million euros ($248 million) in 2018 from the sale of the DriveNow stake to BMW for 209 million euros. "With DriveNow as a wholly-owned subsidiary, we have all options for continued strategic development of our services," said Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW's board member for Digital Business Innovation. "Our experience with mobility services supports our development of future autonomous, electrified and connected fleets," he said, adding that BMW aims to have 100 million customers for "premium mobility services" by 2025. The Sixt deal comes as BMW moves closer to a deal to combine its car-sharing services with Daimler's Car2Go, a person familiar with the discussions told Reuters last week. The German carmakers want to build a joint business that includes car sharing, ride-hailing, electric vehicle charging, and digital parking services, a senior executive at one of the companies said on Monday. Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and BMW declined comment on the status of potential talks on their car-sharing business. "This is speculation, we do not comment," BMW said. The senior executive, who declined to be named because the plan is not public, said: "This will create an ecosystem which can also be used for managing robotaxi (driverless taxi) fleets." BMW would contribute its ParkNow and ChargeNow businesses to the common company, the executive said, adding that there were still differences of opinion over the valuation of Car2Go. The market for ride-hailing services currently makes up around 33 percent of the global taxi market, and could grow eightfold to $285 billion by 2030, once autonomous robotaxis are in operation, Goldman Sachs said in a recent research note. BMW and Daimler are now working on developing autonomous cars, vehicles which could enable them to up-end the market for taxi and ride-hailing services.

It's been a year, and nothing has changed with Smart ED launch

A full year ago, Smart said that the updated version of the all-electric ED version of the quirky two-seater would not arrive until late 2016 or early 2017. The 2016 release was later rumored to be pushed back, so we thought we'd stop by the Smart booth as the Detroit Auto Show and see what the deal was. The current word on the street is that the late 2016 date is back in play, so we're back to where things were at the last Detroit show. We also learned that the new ED will likely be available in roughly the same markets as the current electric Smart Fortwo. That means that you'll easily be able to get one in California and other plug-in friendly states. You will also be able to order one anywhere that you can get a standard Smart. In other words, steady as she goes. In other possible news, the electric vehicle may get three new colors for the Tridion steel safety shell: Stop Light Red, Titania Grey Matte, and Lava Orange Metallic. These colors will be available on the gas-powered Smarts first, with the Lava Orange already reserved for a special edition. Smart's assistant product manager, Keith Edwards, told AutoblogGreen that was still to be determined if the ED will get the variety of colors available or if it will get a unified look like the green-white of the previous version. Edwards said that the ED will launch in Europe at roughly the same time as it does in the US. This is because all of the EDs are made at the same plant and, since it's done making the previous model, the new ones will be rolling off the line at some point. Either in late 2016 or early 2017. Featured Gallery 2016 Smart Fortwo Cabriolet View 30 Photos Green Detroit Auto Show smart Electric exclusive smart car smart ed

Smart #1 revealed as tiny EV with surprising amount of power

The Smart #1 electric crossover has officially been revealed, along with its specifications. In addition to looking extremely similar to the concept of the same name, it packs quite a bit of horsepower and can hold a lot of electric power. It's all wrapped in a package that we could see in America, but likely won't come to our shores. Visually, the Smart is virtually unchanged from the concept. It still has the floating roof, contrasting colors and curvy body. The only changes seem to be some extra little detailing in the front and rear bumpers and the addition of door handles, which are flush to the body. They pop out when someone needs to get in. The doors also have frameless glass. The whole car is still fairly small, but not quite as small as some past Smarts. Its 168-inch length makes it similar in size to the Nissan Kicks, Hyundai Kona and other subcompact crossovers. Even the interior looks basically the same with the accent lighting, flowing center stack and prominent center screen, which measures 12.8 inches. Added to the interior is a low and wide 9.2-inch instrument screen, and the car has an available 10-inch head-up display. Perhaps most interesting is the powertrain. This tiny car has an electric motor making 268 horsepower, enough to scare GTI owners. That motor is also mounted in the rear and powering the rear wheels. It's a tad heavy, though, at 4,012 pounds. That's partly because it has a battery with a 66-kWh capacity. On the WLTP test cycle, that's good for between 260 to 273 miles. The Smart also supports DC fast charging with a peak charging speed of 150 kW. From 10% to 80%, it should charge in less than 30 minutes. The Smart #1 is expected to go on sale later this year, and will be built in China. It's also a joint venture between Mercedes and Geely. Although it's the first Smart model we could see being a genuine success in the U.S., we're not expecting it to appear here. Not just because it would need to be homologated for our market, but the fact that the whole Smart brand left, along with the dealer network. Restarting all that would be a big investment for one car that may or may not be a success. Related Video: