FAW, Changan, Dongfeng likely to build car-sharing joint venture

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- FAW Group, Changan Automobile and Dongfeng Motor will join forces to develop car-sharing businesses, Wang Zhengsheng, chief engineer of Changan Automobile revealed at the 2018 International Forum on Vehicle Eco-Design on July 5.

“Three companies are investing to build a car-sharing joint venture, which will be opened on the Chengdu Plain soon. Traditional automakers are facing urgent needs to get transformation,” he said.

On December 1, 2017, the three Chinese state-owned automakers signed a strategic framework cooperation agreement to jointly develop forward-looking technologies, operate automotive whole value chain, expand overseas markets and explore new business modes.

The exploration of new business modes refer to the effort to strengthen joint research and cooperation in such promising fields as car-sharing, mobility services as well as automotive new ecosystem. Besides, they will group together to construct smart city and smart traffic system.

The car-sharing industry is experiencing dramatic changes. Both traditional automakers and Internet tech companies like Didi Chuxing, Uber and Lyft are accelerating their deployment in car-sharing field. According to a report in March, Daimler AG and BMW Group plans to merge their car-sharing operations. They will form a 50-50 joint venture to include Daimler's Car2Go and BMW's DriveNow businesses as well as services including smartphone apps for hailing taxis, locating parking spots and recharging electric vehicles.

According to recent reports, some global automakers like Volkswagen, Volvo Cars and General Motors plan to launch their mobility services or autonomous ride-hailing services in the future. In China, traditional automakers, such as Geely Auto, Changan Automobile, SAIC Group and BAIC Group, have tapped into car-sharing area by building their own mobility service company or putting investment in alliance with partners.