BMW, Daimler launch car- and ride-sharing joint venture

The business underscores the auto industry's shift toward new technologies and business models based on software and mobile communications. FRANKFURT:Automakers Daimler and BMW are formally launching their joint venture in services that make it possible to use their cars without necessarily owning one.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche and BMW's Harald Krueger held a joint news conference in Berlin on Friday to outline their efforts in auto-related services, which include short-term rentals of vehicles in big cities through smartphone apps.

The business also includes apps to call for a ride, in competition with rivals such as Uber and Lyft from the information technology sector.

Krueger and Zetsche spoke after regulatory authorities gave permission for the deal, announced last year, to formally close.

The business underscores the auto industry's shift toward new technologies and business models based on software and mobile communications.