Inspired by Uber and aware that car sharing will become more and more popular in the future, Volkswagen is launching MOIA, ”a stand-alone company under the Volkswagen Group umbrella, that will develop and market its own mobility services either independently or in partnership with cities and existing transport systems. In parallel, the Group brands will continue to move forward with their own services. Our sights are set on becoming one of the global top players for mobility services in the medium term. To achieve that we will be seeking to attract the best minds and technology start-ups”, Ole Harms, CEO of MOIA, said.”
The Volkswagen Group’s new company, which will be headquartered in Berlin, will begin operating with a team of around 50 – with this number growing fast up to the end of 2017. A further important location in Germany for MOIA will be the city of Hamburg. Back in the autumn, the Volkswagen Group and the Hanseatic city agreed a three-year strategic mobility partnership to make urban mobility more environmentally-friendly.
The biggest potential for MOIA in a first step is business in ride hailing via app. The Volkswagen Group already opened the way for new mobility concepts with its stake in Gett, one of the world’s leading ride hailing providers. Gett app users can already instantly book on-demand transportation, delivery and logistics in more than 100 cities worldwide.
At the same time, MOIA is also focusing on the second major area, namely the pooling business. The company’s goal is to set up its own on-demand pooling services via app – also known as connected commuting. The objective is holistic transport solutions that make individual transport and public transport more effective, thus avoiding unnecessary journeys and optimizing use of the existing road infrastructure. This approach concentrates on cross- boundary transport. The first pilot projects in this field are scheduled to begin in 2017.
