On-demand mobility looks towards the skies & automakers want to be part of the ride-sharing market

Welcome to our weekly digest, the place where you can read the most important urban mobility news every Tuesday. Last week, three companies making on-demand air transportation a reality made the headlines; one of them with VTOL jets and two with regular aircraft. Three automakers continue to focus their efforts on getting a bigger footprint in the ride-sharing market and Uber gets suspended from Pakistan which offers Austin-based startup a chance to launch in Asia.

GM’s Maven to become a ride-sharing platform

GM’s Maven, the rental car service for gig-economy workers, is looking to expand its services to offer actual ride-sharing services in the future. Julia Steyn commented:

“You are on the right track. We are building this out step by step.”

By moving towards ride-sharing, automakers will remain earning money even though traditional ownership will diminish. It will be interesting to see how car makers will be rolling out their ride-hailing fleets in the future.

Read more here:

BMW’s DriveNow & Daimler’s Car2Go might be in talks to unite forces

As unusual as it may sound, German rival automakers BMW and Daimler might be in talks to unite forces to strengthen their respective car-sharing businesses and provide a larger fleet for its users. DriveNow and Car2Go are alternatives to private car ownership but also to ride-hailing services of the likes of Uber. The difference is that in order to use DriveNow and Car2Go the user needs to be able to drive. As ride-hailing keeps on growing, ride-sharing companies need to think of strategies to retain and gain customers. Sixt CEO said:

“At the last press conference I made clear that we are not involved. Today I can only say ‘no comment.’ This is, of course, a slightly different statement from the last one. Why things are dragging on is not down to us.”

With this statement, it could be more feasible that the two ride-sharing platforms will be combining their services in the future to gain ground over competing services such as e-hailing. Once again, traditional automakers are moving towards becoming a bigger part of the disruption on-demand mobility has brought to their industry.

Read more here:

Arcade City launches in the Philippines as Uber gets suspended

As Uber gets a 1-month suspension in the Philippines, Texas-based Arcade City takes its chance to launch in the country. The American startup aims to connect drivers to riders on a peer-to-peer basis, letting the drivers choose their rates and the users choose their drivers. Arcade City announced itself as the hero who would be saving the drivers that lost their job overnight and the users that were left without a ride.

CareemAir launches in Pakistan

The Middle East and North Africa’s ride-hailing leader, Careem has announced its partnership with Air Safari and USFC to launch air service in Lahore, Pakistan. The leading ride-sharing platform in the Middle East is now offering on-demand air travel for its customers through its normal application.

Blackbird Air offers an Uber-like air service

The San Francisco startup aims to offer customers affordable on-demand air transportation within The United States. Blackbird Air offers three different booking options, sort of like Uber pool, Uber X and Uber Lux. Users can download the application and register for free, book flight streak and be ready for take-off. The company offers users affordable air travel with smaller aircraft for routes that are not offered by big airlines. The startup got $2.7 million in funding earlier this year showing once again that investors are true believers of on-demand mobility, whether it is on the road or in the air.

Read more here:

German startup prepares itself for on-demand service for VTOL

Lilium, the Munich based aviation startup, well known for its “flying cars” has recently hired two top executives that will help its growth and prepare it for its on-demand mobility service plans. Remo Gerber, former Western European head for Gett will bring expertise from the ride-hailing industry, while Dirk Gebser, former VP of assembly for Airbus and director of engineering manufacturing at Rolls-Royce. Flying cars are a thing and they will come hand in hand with the growth of on-demand mobility.

Read more here:


Here at Splyt we are constantly working on getting interesting, relevant info on Urban Mobility straight to you. Follow us on all our channels and we will keep you in the loop! Is there a topic you want us to cover in an article or a documentary? Lets us know: leave a comment or shoot us a message.

Splyt

Blog ran by Splyt employees

)

Aida Sanchez-Valdez

Written by

From MX to DE, SG, NL, AT, ES & UK. Passionate about technology, fashion, food and travel.

Splyt

Splyt

Blog ran by Splyt employees

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade