GM's Car-Sharing Business to End Service in Eight of Its 17 North American Cities--Update
May 20 2019 - 04:43PM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Colias
General Motors Co. plans to wind down its Maven car-sharing
service in more than a half-dozen cities, the latest car company to
encounter challenges as it works to expand new transportation
ventures.
Maven, a car-sharing brand launched in 2016 by GM, will end
service in eight of the 17 North American cities it currently
operates in within the next few months, a GM spokeswoman said.
The cities where it plans to terminate business include major
markets, such as Chicago and Boston. Maven will continue to operate
in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Toronto and other
cities, she said, declining to provide a full list of closures.
"We're shifting Maven's offerings to concentrate on markets in
which we have the strongest current demand and growth potential,"
the company said in a statement. GM declined to elaborate on the
specific reasons why it was ending service in the eight
markets.
An email sent to one Maven customer in Chicago said the service
would wind down there by July 26.
The move comes as Uber Technologies Inc. -- a ride-hailing firm
that served as a model for many car makers trying to diversify into
new transportation ventures -- has continued to post sharp losses
and its stock has slumped following its IPO earlier this month.
In January, Maven chief Julia Steyn left GM after leading the
division since its inception. GM didn't give a reason for her
departure. Ms. Steyn, a former Goldman Sachs and Alcoa executive,
didn't reply to requests for comment.
(More to come)
Austen Hufford contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2019 16:28 ET (20:28 GMT)
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