BMW to take on Uber as battle of the ride-sharing companies hots up

Car giants BMW are about to take on Uber and Lyft as they launch their new ride-hailing app ReachNow in Seattle.  

ReachNow, the German firm’s ride-sharing arm, was unveiled on Tuesday and will look to challenge an already competitive market with a new cutting edge app that allows users to book a vehicle, plus the added extras down to the minutest detail. 

Customers will be able to specify their choice of music in the vehicle, the cars temperature and have water and snacks available in a bid to create a premium passenger experience.  The app will also give the customer there choice between driving themselves via car sharing or getting a ride from a professional driver with both services on the same app. If the customer chooses to drive, they will will be able to select from a fleet of hundreds of BMW, BMW i and MINI vehicles, and pay by the minute, by the hour or by the day to effectively rent the car.

According to The Seattle Times the professional drivers will be supplied by a company called Ecoserve, with drivers working a set shift and paid an hourly rate of $14.25.  BMW haven't, as yet, indicated if they plan to offer this service outside of Seattle. Dr. Simon Broesamle, Chief Customer Officer at ReachNow said “From day one, we’ve said that car sharing alone isn’t enough to solve the transportation challenges facing major cities. There are plenty of use cases for how people take advantage of a matrix of transit solutions – from bikes and buses to ride share and ferries – to make their way around their world every day, “As the first company to bring together car sharing and ride hailing into one app, the new ReachNow experience is an important step in our commitment to a multimodal future.”