GM Kills Its Car-Sharing Business

People are not traveling as much and the future will almost certainly not involve as much “sharing” as anticipated.

So it was not a shock when General Motors notified customers Tuesday that it is shutting down its Maven car-sharing business. The coronavirus made the business impossible to keep operating.

Maven was first launched as a Zipcar competitor but grew into a peer-to-peer and also short-term commercial rental business. It was used by drivers from companies like Uber and Grubhub.

The company halted the business last month.

Even prior to the coronavirus, car sharing was less successful than its advocates hoped. GM had pulled out of about half of the cities it had launched the program in.

The coronavirus has heightened sensitivities to risks like contagions from sharing things such as scooters, cars, bicycles, and office space, putting strain on many of the companies that had cropped up to provide those things. It has also reduced demand for transportation as people adhere to stay-at-home rules and practices.