Car-sharing usage up in Germany

German car-sharing companies logged sharp growth in 2018, picking up an extra 350,000 registered customers, reports Deutsche Welle (in English). The total number of registered users increased to 2.46 million, while the number of car-sharing vehicles on the road rose 12 percent to 20,200, according to national car sharing lobby group bcs. “Free-floating” car-sharing programs – in which vehicles are located by mobile phone – remained the most popular type of service after usage grew 15 percent last year. The “station-based” sector, in which cars are picked up and dropped off at designated locations, grew 21.5 percent. According to bcs, station-based services in particular allowed people living in larger towns and cities to go without a car of their own altogether.

Germany has made no progress in cleaning up its transport sector, where emissions have slightly increased in the past decades. Many experts believe car-sharing services will be central to future mobility. Luxury carmakers Daimler and BMW are currently combining their car-sharing businesses Car2Go and DriveNow.