VW sells Weshare to Miles

VW CEO Oliver Blume's cost-cutting drive continues. The fleet of 2,000 cars is now changing hands.

The car-sharing service Weshare now belongs to direct competitor Miles. A purchase price is not known. The fleet from VW-owned Weshare includes 2,000 all-electric cars in Berlin and Hamburg, which now join the Miles fleet. There is also a new order for VW as part of the deal. Founded in 2016, Miles is ordering 10,000 electric cars for delivery next year.

Weshare launched in Berlin and Hamburg in 2019 and had 200,000 users, according to the company. The VW-owned startup has not been profitable at any point. Miles has not been profitable either, but that seems to be slowly changing. As Gründerszene reported, the company quadrupled sales last year to 20 million euros and made a profit in some cities.

The sale is part of the austerity drive by Oliver Blume, who has been chief executive at Volkswagen for about two months. Last week, the company gave up its stake in startup Argo AI, which is based in the United States. Here, Volkswagen still invested about $2.6 billion in autonomous driving in 2019. For Miles, the purchase represents a step toward electrifying its own fleet, says CEO Oliver Mackprang. So far, the Miles fleet includes 9,000 vehicles in eight major cities, and it will grow significantly in the coming years.