I tried GM's Zipcar competitor that's wildly popular among millennials — here's the verdict (GM)

In 2016, General Motors launched its car-sharing service Maven, a Zipcar competitor that highlights an important transition brewing in Detroit.

Automakers are under increasing pressure from Silicon Valley to come up with mobility services that appeal to modern urban dwellers. As millennials opt to live in big cities, their willingness to shell out for a car has fallen by the wayside. Traditional car companies are now tasked with appealing to millennials who aren't in a hurry to purchase a vehicle, but are already tethered to ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber.

A car-sharing service opens up a key opportunity for big automakers to compete in the crowded mobility space. It provides new revenue streams in cities while also exposing millennials to cars they may be interested in buying later in life. 

GM launched Maven with millennials in mind. Of the 75,858 people using Maven, 80% are between the ages of 18 and 34. The average user is 30-year-olds, so it skews a bit closer to Generation X.

GM is far from the only company to launch a Zipcar competitor; Ford has launched GoDrive and BMW operates Reachnow.

As a millennial living in New York City, I decided to test the service to see how it stacks up and see if I could be swayed to become a regular user. Here's my verdict:

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Maven is a free app you can download on iOS or Android devices. Unlike Zipcar, there's no option to use it as a subscription service. You simply pay an hourly rate per trip, which will vary based on what kind of car you reserve.

If you open the app with Location Services turned on, Maven will automatically show you where you are in relation to its garages. In New York City, there are 24 parking garages scattered throughout Manhattan and two in Brooklyn.

Maven launched in Brooklyn in late September, but plans to continue adding garages to the borough. Right now, the two garages are in Williamsburg.

I found the interface to be a bit confusing at first. I kept pressing the garages to see which vehicle options were inside. Instead, you have to select the "list" button, which I've highlighted below, to see everything.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Contributer : Tech Insider http://ift.tt/2y8V1GB

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