BMW and Mercedes-Benz are allegedly looking to part ways with FreeNow, their once-promising ride-hailing venture that aimed to take on Uber in Europe. According to Bloomberg, the two automakers are exploring a potential sale, with the business valued at up to €500 million ($521 million). FreeNow, which operates in over 150 European cities, was once seen as BMW’s and Mercedes’ bold bet on the future of urban mobility. However, as competition intensified and profitability proved difficult, the automakers are now looking to offload the service.
FreeNow was born from a 2019 joint venture between BMW and Mercedes, who poured over €1 billion into a range of mobility services, including car-sharing, ride-hailing, and micro-mobility options like e-scooters. The idea was to create a European alternative to Uber, integrating taxis into the platform rather than directly competing with them. Unlike Uber, which has faced regulatory battles in many cities, FreeNow’s approach allowed it to operate smoothly in markets like London, Paris, and Frankfurt, where users could hail traditional taxis as well as private hire rides.
The two giant OEMs also operated the ShareNow services in the United States: Montreal, New York, Seattle, Washington and Vancouver. But the service was retired in February 2020 amid concerns around the volatile state of the global mobility landscape. In 2022, BMW and Mercedes sold their car-sharing service, Share Now, to Stellantis.
While FreeNow remains a strong name in European ride-hailing, its future now hinges on whether a buyer steps forward. Potential suitors could include Uber, which would benefit from acquiring FreeNow’s market share, or Bolt, an Estonian ride-hailing company. For FreeNow, the service still holds a valuable position in the market, but whether it can survive under new ownership remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that BMW and Mercedes are done trying to be mobility service providers—and are returning to what they know best: building the cars people drive, rather than the apps they ride in.
