Is CarSharing a profitable business model for automotive OEMs?

Abstract: CarSharing is seen as one of the four major trends in the automotive industry. The ever-increasing traffic volume in large cities, easier access to digital services through smartphones and the change in people’s ecological thinking are seen as drivers for this business segment. Nevertheless, the German car manufacturers BMW and Daimler, normally competitors in the market, have joined forces in a joint venture (ShareNow) in the hope of being finally profitable. The venture does not release any information about their business figures and also in the literature there is so far no detailed analysis of the costs for operating a Free-Floating CarSharing company. This article will therefore use the Munich-based company ShareNow as an example to determine the cost structure and examine the non-monetary benefits for car manufacturers in addition to the monetary side. The analysis indicates that this business cannot be operated profitably and that even considering the non-monetary benefits, remaining in this business segment is questionable.