Maven
was a
car sharing
service launched by
General Motors
(GM) in 2016. It provided services such as
carsharing
and
peer-to-peer car sharing
for personal use and also rented to drivers of
gig economy
professions such as
Uber
and
Lyft
. It operated in select cities in the United States, Canada and Australia until ceasing operations in 2020.
History
[
edit
]
Maven was announced in January 2016 and has been referred to as the AirBnB for cars.
[2]
At the time of its launch, Maven's team consisted of 40 people.
[3]
The year prior, GM had purchased the assets of then defunct
Sidecar
after that company failed to gain ground on
Lyft
and
Uber
.
[4]
Maven launched as a pilot program at the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
and expanded to other cities a few weeks later.
[5]
In August 2017, Maven was announced as the exclusive car sharing partner for the
University of Southern California
in Los Angeles.
[6]
Maven also launched Maven Gig, a rental service for people who work in the gig economy such as drivers of
Uber
,
Lyft
, and
Uber Eats
.
[7]
By 2018, Maven had 190,000 members and expanded to major cities across the United States.
[8]
It had also entered the Australian market where it initially provided gig-economy rentals prior to adding personal car sharing services.
[9]
It operated in a total of 17 cities in North America as of May 2019.
[10]
Maven exited select cities in 2019 based on market analysis by GM,
[11]
and announced it would focus on cities with the strongest demand and growth.
[10]
Maven also partnered with
EVgo
in 2019 to provide fast charging stations for users of Maven electric vehicles.
[12]
On April 21, 2020, GM announced plans to shut down Maven.
[13]
Services
[
edit
]
Maven provided car sharing services, including car sharing for personal use and rentals for drivers of
gig economy
professions such as
Uber
and
Lyft
. It used an app for people to search for and book rentals. It is also used to control certain features of the car such as remote start and unlocking of doors.
[10]
Unlike traditional rental car agencies, all Maven vehicles were connected by the
General Motors
-owned
OnStar
telematics
service, which allowed borrowers to use the service to contact roadside assistance, receive directions to the vehicle's
infotainment
system, and perform remote services via the Maven app, such as unlocking, locking, and locating the vehicle on a map. Most vehicles also included complimentary
SiriusXM
Satellite Radio
service.
Maven offered three main vehicle classes, consisting of Small Cars (such as the
Chevrolet Spark
,
Chevrolet Sonic
,
Chevrolet Cruze
, and
Chevrolet Volt
), Large Cars (such as the
Buick Regal
,
Cadillac ATS
,
Chevrolet Impala
, and
Chevrolet Malibu
), and SUV's (such as the
Cadillac Escalade
,
Chevrolet Equinox
,
Chevrolet Tahoe
, and
Chevrolet Trax
).
Maven also allowed individual owners of General Motors vehicles to share their cars by the hour or daily through a peer-to-peer car sharing service.
[14]
Owners received sixty percent of the rental cost and also received liability insurance. Vehicles had to be newer model GM vehicles and go through an on-boarding process which included installation of a keyless entry system.
[14]
Maven Gig was launched in 2017 and rented vehicles to people who worked in the gig economy such as drivers of
Uber
,
Lyft
, and
Uber Eats
.
[7]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Wayland, Michael.
"GM appoints marketing veteran to lead Maven"
. Automotive News.
- ^
Hawkins, Andrew J. (24 July 2018).
"General Motors wants its customers to rent their cars to other people"
. The Verge.
- ^
Hawkins, Andrew J. (21 January 2016).
"GM launches Maven, a car-sharing service to compete with Zipcar"
. The Verge.
- ^
Read, Richard (21 January 2016).
"GM Launches Maven Car-Sharing Service, Buys Remains Of Uber Competitor, Sidecar"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
Muller, David (21 January 2016).
"GM launches Maven car-sharing service in Ann Arbor, other cities to come"
. MLive.
- ^
"GM's Maven will provide cars to students at USC"
. freep.com. August 11, 2017
. Retrieved
December 11,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"GM's Maven Gig Expands Ride-Sharing Reach"
. August 11, 2017
. Retrieved
February 19,
2018
.
- ^
Naughton, Nora (30 December 2018).
"Maven car-sharing creates 'side hustle' for Metro Detroit dad"
. The Detroit News.
- ^
Dowling, Joshua (26 May 2019).
"Cars on demand to replace vehicle ownership for a new generation of drivers"
. The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^
a
b
c
Korosec, Kirsten (20 May 2019).
"GM's car-sharing service Maven to exit eight cities"
. TechCrunch.
- ^
Colias, Mike (20 May 2019).
"GM Scales Back Maven Car-Sharing Business"
. The Wall Street Journal.
- ^
Edelstein, Stephen (12 April 2018).
"Maven and EVgo Partner on Electric Car Charging for Ride-Hailing Drivers"
. The Drive.
- ^
O'Kane, Sean (21 April 2020).
"GM shuts down car-sharing service Maven"
. The Verge.
- ^
a
b
O'Kane, Sean (23 October 2018).
"GM is letting more people rent their cars for money"
. The Verge.
External links
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