Car-sharing service Share Now, created in car2go merger, announces shutdown of Seattle, North America operations

Share Now, which formed out of a merger with car2go, will close its car-rental services in Seattle and all of North America in February, the company announced Wednesday, citing rising operating costs among other reasons.

Existing customers will be able to use the service until Feb. 29, 2020. No new customers will be permitted to enroll past Wednesday. The company said it had 148,309 customers in Seattle.

A joint venture between automakers BMW and Daimler, Share Now offered short-term rentals of Mercedes-Benz cars, but struggled to stay economically viable in the “volatile state of the global mobility landscape,” according to the announcement.

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The decision follows ReachNow’s closure of its car-rental and ride-hailing service in Seattle and Portland in July, and Lime’s shutdown of its app-based car-rental service in September. It also comes as trips from on-demand ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft continue to grow in Seattle, and the city explores adding electric foot scooters to streets.

Share Now launched earlier this year, resulting from a merger of Daimler’s car2go and BMW’s DriveNow, and took on car2go’s customer base and fleet. The company was part of BMW and Daimler’s broader joint venture into car-rental services, which also included another car-rental company, BMW’s ReachNow. After ReachNow ended its service this summer, Share Now had continued to operate.

In announcing its departure, Share Now said the “lack of necessary infrastructure to support new technology” like electric vehicle car share contributed to the decision.

ZipCar, a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group, continues to run in Seattle along with Getaround, which allows people to rent out their own cars by the hour. Other traditional car-rental companies, like Enterprise and Hertz, also operate in the city.

Share Now’s closure will affect operations in New York, Washington, D.C., Montreal, and Vancouver, B.C. Share Now will also cease operations in Florence, London, and Brussels as a result of a low number of users, but will continue to operate in 18 other European cities, the company said.

Share Now declined to disclose the number of employees affected by the decision.

The company encourages customers to use any remaining credits as soon as they are able to do so.