More Members, More rentals: car2go has successful financial year 2018

-- 21 percent year-over year member increase to 3.6 million

-- More than 25 million rentals worldwide

-- 37 percent growth in business account customers

STUTTGART, Germany AND AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Growth in members, rental time and rentals, business customers and the addition of new vehicle models: car2go continued its successful course in 2018. The market leader in free-floating carsharing increased its number of members by 21 percent to 3.6 million worldwide compared to the previous year. In North America, the number of members increased by over 20 percent to 1.2 million users.

car2go cities in North America with the most members are Vancouver (192,000), Calgary (134,000) Seattle (127,000), and New York (122,000). New York was car2go's fastest growing North American city in 2018, enjoying nearly 41 percent year-over-year growth. Chicago, car2go's newest North American location, surpassed 10,000 members just three months after its launch in July.

Berlin (282,000), Chongqing in China (273,000) and Madrid (237,000) remain the car2go cities with the most members.

car2go also recorded strong growth in its locations with purely electric fleets: Amsterdam, Madrid and Stuttgart, growing membership by 18 percent to 430,000 people.

"2018 was a very successful year for car2go," said Olivier Reppert, CEO of car2go Group. "We significantly increased our customer base, expanded the number of business customers and launched a promising new location with Chicago. Much more is happening in 2019, and with the launch of car2go in Paris next week, we will add another purely electric car2go city to our growing portfolio."

25 million rentals, longer rental time

Last year alone, members rented one of the 14,000 car2go vehicles more than 25 million times. Especially in the cities of Berlin (plus 401,000), Milan (plus 303,000) and Turin (plus 174,000), the number of rentals increased significantly. car2go members completed more than 12 percent of all journeys with electric vehicles, causing zero local emissions. On top of that, the average rental time increased by more than 10 percent compared to the previous year.

Growth in business customers

Strong growth among business customers underlines that carsharing gains more importance not only in the private sector but also in the world of businesses. The number of business customers at car2go increased by 37 percent in the 2018 financial year: more than 58,000 companies are already offering car2go as a mobility solution for their employees.

car2go is committed to better quality of life, promoting road safety

Research has proven that free-float carshare like car2go effectively reduces road congestion while improving urban air quality. The University of California Berkeley study found that each car2go vehicle removed as many as 11 personal cars from the road, and has a tangible, positive impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as overall vehicle miles/kilometers traveled.

car2go was the first and still only carshare service actively supporting the goals of Vision Zero and the Road to Zero Coalition. car2go recently launched free road safety courses to all U.S. members as part of our ongoing commitment to Vision Zero.

About car2go N.A. LLC

car2go N.A., LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, offers an innovative mobility solution in rapidly growing urban areas via a carsharing network of affordable, eco-friendly Mercedes-Benz and smart vehicles. A flexible and "on demand" mode of transportation, car2go complements existing public transportation by bridging the gaps between the "first and last mile" of a member's commute. car2go members use a free, downloadable app on their smartphone to find, reserve, take and end trips in car2go vehicles.

Fast Company named car2go one of the most innovative transportation companies of 2018. TIME Magazine ranked the car2go app #5 on its "Top 10 Apps of 2017" list. Today, car2go's global operation is the largest, fastest growing carsharing program in the world with more than 3.6 million registered members and a fleet of nearly 14,000 vehicles in 25 locations in North America, Europe and Asia. Further information on car2go is available at car2go.com and car2go.com/NA/en/press/.

SOURCE car2go N.A., LLC