Milan, 19 January 2021 – Europe's leading free-floating car sharing provider SHARE NOW strengthened and strategically expanded its business model in the past year, despite deep cuts due to the effects of the pandemic. The joint venture of the BMW Group and Daimler AG gained 410,000 new customers in 2020. Last year, the three million SHARE NOW customers rented one of the approximately 11,000 available vehicles almost 18 million times.
"The year 2020 has been challenging for SHARE NOW and at the same time has strengthened us in our activities. Against all odds, we recorded 410,000 new registrations and improved the utilization of our fleet across Europe," says Olivier Reppert, CEO of SHARE NOW. "More importantly, we have proven ourselves as a reliable and safe mobility option for all our customers across Europe."
Another success achieved on an international scale during 2020 is related to the average rental duration, which increased by 63 percent in the same period and now is at 53 minutes. This growth is particularly based on the consistent development and use of long-term car sharing offers meaning rentals from one to 30 days. Customers can either spontaneously rent their desired vehicle from the roadside or book it up to 45 days in advance free of charge and conveniently specify the pickup location and time via app. The figures show that this flexibility has been well received: compared to the previous year, SHARE NOW tripled the number of days rented. "With our combination of short- and long-term rentals, we cover almost all use cases of car usage and thus offer our customers full flexibility - without having to commit to owning a car," says Olivier Reppert.
2020 in Italy
Even in Italy, despite the crisis due to the spread of Covid-19, SHARE NOW has achieved significant successes during 2020. Italy, in fact, with its 700,000 users, is at the second place in the ranking of countries with the highest number of clients and cars available, immediately after Germany. Last year, moreover, around 30 million kilometers were traveled on a national level aboard the approximately 2,400 cars in the fleet. Milan is with 16 million kilometers driven in 2020 the second city in Europe with the most road traveled (Berlin is the first). In Rome, instead, SHARE NOW users drove 9.4 million kilometers and in Turin 4 million.
In comparison with 2019, the average duration of a rental in Italy increased by 86% in 2020, reaching 51 minutes. In particular, the Italian city where rentals last the longest is Rome which, with an average of 73 minutes, marks a + 132% compared to the previous year. In Milan, however, a rental lasts on average 49 minutes (+ 61%) and in Turin 31 minutes (+ 66%). This growth is a consequence of the increase in long-term rentals made with SHARE NOW car sharing: in Italy the days sold through the packages increased by 214% compared to 2019, confirming the same European trend in the Bel Paese too.