VW Introduces Ride Hailing Brand Called Moia

At the Paris Auto Show earlier this year, Volkswagen announced that it would set up a new brand for autonomous vehicles and ride hailing. Now, that brand has a name, Moia, and a clearer purpose.

Moia, says CEO Ole Harms, will fill the gap between buses and ride hailing apps like Uber. Using vehicles from the VW Commercial Vehicles fleet (vans and transporters), the new brand is being called a shuttle service, and Harms expects rides to cost as much as bus fare.

“We are still moving around our cities like we did 20 or 30 years ago,” Harms said. “We need to offer new forms of transportation and really improve the traffic situation.”

Harms also revealed that he anticipates that Moia will use six to eight seat electric vehicles based on the MEB platform. Further, he expects a few cities to have autonomous Moia fleets by 2021.

And to accomplish all of this, Moia has been given a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars, says Harms. That, according the CEO, isn’t all money lost, though, as he expects Moia to turn billions in profits in two to four years.

This isn’t the Volkswagen Group’s first attempt at fleet services. The group recently announced a strategic partnership with Israeli ride hailing app, Gett—which it plans to continue to leverage—and is currently testing an Audi fleet service in North Carolina.

The post VW Introduces Ride Hailing Brand Called Moia appeared first on VWVortex.

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