Daimler's Car2Go Smart car sharing dropped in the UK

Car2Go – a SMART car sharing club run by Daimler and Europcar – is shutting up shop in the UK as UK drivers haven’t taken to the idea of car sharing.

I sight you won’t see from tomorrow – a Car2Go Smart on a UK road

Need a car for a quick trip across town and don’t want to use public transport of a taxi? Then a car-sharing club is a good way to go.

There are several choices on offer for those wanting a car for a quick trip but only one – Car2Go, run by Daimler and Europcar using Smart ForFours – will allow you to pick up in one place and drop of at your destination. But it isn’t working, at least not in the UK.

Car2Go allowed members to locate an available car with a Smartphone App, pay 35p a minute and drive to where they’re going (within the schemes’ limits) and drop it off at their destination.

Launched in London in 2012 and Birmingham in 2013, Carf2Go looked set to be a success – as it has been across Europe and in the US – but, citing the UK’s strong culture of car ownership, Daimler has announced that it is withdrawing from the UK market with immediate effect (it closes tomorrow, May 30th 2014).

Daimler say they are going to continue to monitor the UK market to see if a cultural change to car sharing starts to gain momentum, but for now it’s goodbye to car sharing from Car2Go in the UK.

Comments

Ralph Panhuyzen says
May 17, 2015 at 10:36 am
That’s actually extraordinary, particularly since Car2Go keeps expanding in other countries! Smart cars seem to do well. You wonder if channeling Smart cars through Daimler’s Car2Go program isn’t responsible for the better part of growing ‘sales’.