Maven, GM's car-sharing service, shuts down
GM had big plans for Maven four years ago, but it's decided to pull the plug.
General Motors launched a brand-new division in 2016 called Maven, meant to rival the car-sharing giants of the world. Four years on and the automaker decided the experiment has run its course.
A GM representative confirmed to Roadshow that the Maven car-sharing service will "wind down." Maven users received emails on Tuesday declaring the service would shut down effective immediately. Maven's end follows a suspension in service amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Wowwww, Covid19 claimed the Maven car-sharing platform, it's shutting down immediately. Bummer, it was one of the better ones. pic.twitter.com/tanmpjEhOS
— Owen Williams ⚡ (@ow) April 21, 2020
"Maven assets and resources will be transferred to GM's Global Innovation organization, as well as the larger enterprise," GM's statement says. Pam Fletcher, vice president of global innovation, said in a statement that GM gained "extremely valuable insights from operating our own car-sharing business" and the knowledge will benefit other areas of the automaker's business.
Maven once looked like a possible new revenue stream for GM as it permitted participants to rent vehicles on flexible terms and allow GM vehicle owners to rent out their own vehicles. The service was meant to expand to include rival automaker brands and even equipment, like lawn mowers.
When Maven was most prevalent, the service operated in 17 cities, but last year, GM pulled about half of them from the operation list. It's not clear if the experience gained from Maven could help shape a future autonomous ride-hailing service, but for now, GM is solely back in the business of designing, engineering, building and selling cars.
