It’s not clear what Khanna’s role will be at GM, but in its statement about Maven, the automaker says that its team “includes more than 40 dedicated employees from the connected auto technology industry as well as ride- and car-sharing professionals from Google, Zipcar and Sidecar”.
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Maven launches this week with 21 GM vehicles parked near the University of MI in Ann Arbor, with plans to expand to multiple major cities in the coming months.
GM may be late to the Uber economy, but it’s quickly positioning itself to play catch up.
Maven’s car-sharing services, which provide rentals for periods as short as an hour, differ from the ride hailing offered by companies such as Uber or Lyft, in which consumers pay for a ride, just like hiring a taxi.
The service is supported by an app that lets users book cars, unlock them and even turn on heating or cooling systems remotely.
“GM is at the forefront of redefining the future of personal mobility”.
We previously brought you an exclusive find with the trademarking of the name “Maven” by General Motors with the USPTO.
General Motors will face tough competition from existing schemes such as Zipcar, which was the first to popularize the car-sharing idea. The company’s new mission, as Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told the Wall Street Journal in June 2014, is to, “basically, make vehicle ownership a thing of the past”. Such a model can also be financially rewarding for a vehicle company.
With the continued growth of ride-sharing and car-sharing programs, traditional automakers are feeling the heat, and are developing new partnerships and services to ensure they have a foothold in these growing markets. “We don’t see any issues there at all”.
Dan Ammann, president of GM said its association with Lyft and vehicle connectivity service OnStar, will help it to be uniquely positioned to provide personalized mobility service to its customers. Ford CEO Mark Fields has said his company is working on a similar project, and earlier this month at CES, he said Ford is funding 25 global mobility experiments and tripling the size of its autonomous testing fleet.
GM’s move comes after automotive company Daimler’s (DDAIY) subsidiary Car2Go and indications that less young people want to own cars, the Journal noted. Someone looking for something larger can get a Chevrolet Malibu sedan for $8 an hour or $56 for the day. At Maven the Chevy Volt and Chevy Spark will each cost customers $6 per hour to use.
General Motors states Maven will be coupled with everything the automaker now offers for a personal vehicle such as OnStar, Apple CarPlay, 4G LTE Wireless capability and smartphone apps to create the greatest experience seen to date.
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Maven is the result of a number of steps the company has taken to transition from simply manufacturing and selling cars to offering mobility services to customers. “Our goal is to make it an everyday life event”.
