This year’s European Mobility Week sheds light on “Better Connections”. A theme that is at the core of the services of Free2move, a global mobility leader offering a complete, unique and innovative ecosystem and SHARE NOW, the European market leader in free-floating car-sharing. Both companies joined forces to simplify customer mobility, proposing solutions per minute, day, month and years to more than 6 million users overall. In a context where customers shift from ownership to usage, Free2move and SHARE NOW, present their most dynamic European countries and customer insights, at the occasion of the European Mobility Week.
A high demand for flexibility
In the first eight months of 2022 the global registrations for the rental services on the Free2move application more than doubled (+104 %) in comparison to the same time last year. The same applies to the service of SHARE NOW for which 52 % more customers registered in the same time frame. With an increase of bookings of 705 % for Free2move this summer 2022 compared to summer 2019, the rental activity of mobility users confirms that the business has come back to normal.
"Demand for flexibility has never been higher. In our mobility ecosystem, we cover the entire spectrum, from car-sharing to car rental to subscription, our customer insights shows that the rent and car-sharing activities have been very dynamic this summer. Our success shows that we are sustainably meeting the diverse mobility needs of our customers worldwide. Better connections is not just a topic for us at European Mobility Week, but is the focus of our products. With SHARE NOW, we have gained more flexible mobility options for our customers that can be connected perfectly into our global mobility ecosystem”, says Brigitte Courtehoux, CEO of Free2move.
Free2move: A new game changer, the Free2move Mobility HUB
As a world leader in mobility, Free2move offers their customers new perspectives by interconnecting mobility in the Free2move Mobility HUB. This all-in-one solution bundles all rental durations from for a few minutes, hours, weeks, months and even by subscription in one single application, with the same fleet. Currently, the company offers this mobility HUB at seven locations (five in the United States and two in Europe in Paris and Madrid) and is integrating now SHARE NOW cities. In Europe, on our mobility HUBS, 10 % of Free2move clients are using the Free2move rental services with different types of duration on the application. The company also noticed an increase of 15 % in Madrid this summer, notably related with the Hub opening, with the addition of 150 Jeeps in the Fleet. Overall, for Free2move, more than 39 % of application downloads has led to an account registration this summer.
SHARE NOW: Diverse use cases and a common trend towards longer rentals
The fact that car-sharing can cover all use cases of a private car is reflected in the different ways in which SHARE NOW is used all over Europe. While the biggest trend in Germany is primarily for trips to and from the airport, customers in France use a car-sharing vehicle primarily for long-term rentals and business trips. In Italy and Spain, shorter trips, such as morning or midday commutes, and evening trips in the city are in particular demand. There is also a common trend: trips are longer and tend to be planned in advance. For example, the average rental duration in the summer months of July and August 2022 has increased by a third across Europe. The number of pre-bookings for long-term rentals up to 30 days, which enables free delivery to the customer's preferred location within the home area, rose by 40 % in the same period.
Joint Action
“We, at Free2move and SHARE NOW, are convinced that car-sharing, as part of an intermodal mobility ecosystem, will be a crucial part of the future of mobility”, states Courtehoux. Free2move and SHARE NOW created a special registration offer during the European Mobility Week. By using the code “ShareTheMove”, customers all over Europe can register for free and will receive up to five euros credit for their first car-sharing usage. The code can be used in both the Free2move and SHARE NOW application, is valid from September 16 to 25, 2022. All locations will be included.
As the market leader and pioneer of free-floating car-sharing, SHARE NOW is represented in 17 European cities with around 10,000 vehicles, around 3,000 of which are electric. More than four million customers already use this service. SHARE NOW offers a sustainable solution for urban mobility and, as part of the mobility offer, makes a significant contribution to relieving traffic congestion in cities. With vehicles from BMW, Citroën, Fiat, MINI, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Peugeot and smart, SHARE NOW continues to expand its European market leadership in free-floating car-sharing. The mobility service provider was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Berlin. Since 2022, the company has been part of Free2move.
Press Contact: press@free2move.com