Car2go taps Asian market in Chongqing

The white and blue color scheme, as well as the brand design of the smart fortwo vehicles will remain the same, like in all other car2go countries. [File photo]

The Chinese metropolis of Chongqing will become the first city in Asia to work with car2go as the world's largest car-sharing company announced its planned launch on Thursday.

The service will head to the southwestern municipality with several hundred smart fortwo vehicles within a year. The business area is expected to include the extended downtown area of Chongqing, the largest city in the world with 30 million people.

The launch in China, the first step into the Asian market, will be a pilot program as both the local price system and the number of rental cars are still under discussion.

Car2go will operate under its world-renowned name in China. However, the name for the Chinese market will be extended by an additive: Ji Xing. It means "ready to go with" or "immediately hit the road," which reflects the car2go mobility service. The white and blue color scheme, as well as the brand design of the smart fortwo vehicles will remain the same, like in all other car2go countries.

"The fact that car2go will start with a rollout in China once again demonstrates the importance of the Asian market to Daimler," said Hubertus Troska, board member of DaimlerAG with responsibility for China.

"As a pioneering service, Daimler will offer an innovative and flexible product that can establish itself in local mega cities as a sustainable mobility solution for urban traffic. I am confident that this launch will quickly expand the global success of car2go to China. "

About 12,500 car2go are currently operating in 29 locations and are used by more than a million members in North America and Europe.

"I am thrilled that we will be continuing car2go in Asia. Daimler has had a long history as the pioneer of mobility - from inventing the first automobile to innovative carsharing, and we are energized to move another important step forward," said Klaus Entenmann, Chairman of Daimler Financial Services AG, to which car2go is assigned within the Daimler Group. "Asia is an important market for Daimler, not only in the field of automotive sales and acquisition, but also for financial and mobility services."

Roland Keppler, COO of moovel GmbH and responsible for car2go, said: "We believe that Asia will be the third successful market for car2go, in addition to Europe and North America. We're not only focused on entering the Asian market, but we're also focused on gaining valuable experience for future rollouts in other cities. Personally, I am pleased that we will launch the first Asian car2go city in one of the most important cities in China, and I believe that its success will serve as a progressive example to the entire Asian market."

Since December, all car2go vehicles can be rented with the smartphone app, and all vehicles are automatically turned off once the rental is completed. In Europe and North America, more locations will launch and expand across the car2go network as it continues to offer cross-country use inside Europe and inside North-America.