The Volkswagen Auto Group isn’t just the VW logo but is comprised of twelve brands currently and with a recent announcement it will have a thirteenth under its roof in the next few years. This new brand will not be another car name, but instead be a mobility brand that will have the goal of being the Volkswagen mobility partner and solution to ensure this group is able to keep stride with the rest of the automotive market. Every name you can think of seems to be partnering with a mobility app company of some sort and now Volkswagen has their foot in the door as well.
VW already has invested over $300 million in Gett and helps this mobility partner be successful in Moscow. With the help of Gett VW expects to be able to launch an OnDemand mobility service in Berlin in the next couple years and then will hopefully be able to expand to Moscow and maybe even New York, where Gett has a strong footing already. Another location that could begin to enjoy the benefits of this service would be Hamburg which is a city that VW has a strong partnership with all ready to give the auto group a place to launch from.
While this seems to be a bit vague at the moment, VW hasn’t even given this new brand a name yet, but they have named a CEO, Ole Harms. No timeline has been set as of yet either regarding when this new service will be available, mostly because VW is focused on bringing their EV models to market by 2019 using the MEB platform that will eventually be the launching pad for as many as thirty different models. Even though a timeframe hasn’t been set, a goal has and VW Group wants to make this mobility service to be a leader in Europe by 2025.
The mobility part of this new brand is only part of the equation. This new brand will be focused on helping people move around as they need to, but it will also be focused on making things move and provide mobility for products from one place to another. This brand will work closely with MAN, Scania, and Navistar, all companies that VW has acquired recently to help make this mobility solution a reality as they work toward bringing world leading mobility to the market.
Will this new brand work for VW? It should and with the vast resources, VW has there’s no reason why a mobility solution that’s launched initially in Europe, and spreads its way toward the rest of the world, won’t work. Even though VW has had its share of setback in recent history, moving toward an OnDemand mobility solution that comes from their partnership with Gett is the right direction for the VW Auto Group as they learn how to provide not just vehicles for us to buy, but mobility solutions that fit our needs and our lifestyles all over the world.
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