German carmakers Daimler and BMW may be in talks to combine their car-sharing services Car2Go and DriveNow, according to the CEO of car hire company Sixt.
Reuters reports that Daimler and BMW have discussed pooling their car-sharing businesses to better compete against ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft which have started offering pay-per-use mobility services which are more convenient than car ownership.
It says that, asked whether Sixt was involved in merger talks with Daimler and BMW, Chief Executive Erich Sixt said, "At the last press conference I made clear that we are not involved. Today I can only say 'no comment'. This is of course a slightly different statement from the last one. Why things are dragging on is not down to us."
Reuters reports that in May Sixt had said it was not involved in any merger talks, but added that its 50 percent DriveNow stake had been valued at around 480 million euros ($560 million).
