We previously brought you an exclusive find with the trademarking of the name “Maven” by General Motors with the USPTO. Now, we know exactly what Maven is.
Today, General Motors officially announced Maven as its personal mobility brand, with the goal to redefine the idea of personal mobility at its core.
Maven takes each previous GM-branded car-sharing service, and unifies it under one brand. Those include Let’s Drive NYC, CarUnity and more.
“GM is at the forefront of redefining the future of personal mobility,” said GM President Dan Ammann. “With the launch of our car-sharing service through Maven, the strategic alliance with ride-sharing company Lyft, and building on our decades of leadership in vehicle connectivity through OnStar, we are uniquely positioned to provide the high level of personalized mobility services our customers expect today and in the future.”
Maven’s mission will be to provide personalized mobility with on-demand service and access. GM has courted more than 40 dedicated employees ranging from Google, Zipcar and Sidecar to help realize Maven, each with deep wealths of connected car knowledge. Services will be tailored to regional customer needs and include city, residential, peer-to-peer and campus programs.
General Motors states Maven will be coupled with everything the automaker currently offers for a personal vehicle such as OnStar, Apple CarPlay, 4G LTE Wireless capability and smartphone apps to create the greatest experience seen to date.
GM says customers will experience seamless smartphone and keyless integration with Maven vehicles, too. Through the Maven app, customers will search for and reserve a vehicle by location or car type and unlock the vehicle with their smartphone. The app also enables remote functions such as starting, heating or cooling and more
Beginning this week, Maven will launch in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a focus on the University of Michigan students and faculty. Additional city-based launches will occur throughout 2016.
Maven’s next invasion will take to the Chicago area with a partnership with Magellan Development Group. Maven will also expand upon the framework Let’s Drive NYC laid with its Stonehenge Partners partnership, too. Both of these programs will allow Maven to reach 5,000 residents initially.
“Maven provides on-demand access, choice and ease of use. The right vehicle and right mobility service for the right trip at the right time,” said Julia Steyn, GM vice president, Urban Mobility Programs. “With more than 25 million customers around the world projected to use some form of shared mobility by 2020, Maven is a key element of our strategy to changing ownership models in the automotive industry.”
For GM, this is a major step in redefining the automotive industry. And it’s betting big on personal mobility today.
Comments
Great news. GM is getting ahead of the curve. Ride/car sharing services in its many forms will make up a large part of the future automotive landscape.
Fun fact; since only 2009 UberX value is already over $60B. GM’s value currently just over $82B after over 100 years of existence.
GM is right to get in while they can and create a foothold. Along with Onstar they can really be a force in this emerging category.
Great. No, really. Oh, wait — I have a question: WTF is it?