The car manufacturer Renault plans to end the activity of carpooling of its subsidiary Zity throughout the coming year. The decision will not only affect Madrid, but will also result in the permanent closure of its general operations in the car sharing field, which it currently centralized from Milan. It is the only place, besides the Spanish capital, where Zity still retains a certain commercial dynamism after having suspended its service in Paris, the strategic heart of the French car manufacturer, last year for an indefinite period.
Renault launched its operation carpooling in 2017, in Madrid, and from 2022 it also began to offer it in Italy. In the capital of our country, this vehicle rental company for an extended period still operates with the popular Renault Zoe and Dacia Spring electric vehicles. The recently adopted decision provides for the gradual abandonment of the service until 2026.
“Zity’s operations in Madrid will be phased out starting next year,” Renault said verbatim. The brand also indicated that it would finalize the Duo electric quadricycle project, a vehicle designed for urban environments and which has not finished coming to fruition.
“Certain activities developed by Mobilize Beyond Automotive have been stopped, either because they have limited profitability prospects, or because they do not directly contribute to the group’s strategic priorities,” added the manufacturer.
Zity operates in the city of Madrid under the commercial motto of Mobilize Share & Zitythe name of the application that since this year has left behind the well-known name Zity, integrated to this day in the new Mobilize Share, as we read in Fleet peoplea reference media in the field of corporate fleets and rental.
The platform currently has around 1,500 vehicles in its fleet in the capital. Its operation began in 2017 with a fleet of 500 cars and through a joint venture between Renault and Ferrovial, but the latter abandoned the activity in 2023 after selling its 50% stake to the French brand itself.
The main activity directly concerned by the measure, in addition to what concerns Zity and the blackout of the Duo, will be that of the charging network that Mobilize has set up in recent years throughout France and which, according to data consulted by the same publication via ChargePoint, currently includes 139 charging stations for electric vehicles which make up a total of 393 chargers.
Keep recharging
The Renault group created the Mobilize Beyond Automotive division in 2021 to explore different forms of activity in addition to charging for elements linked to traditional automobiles, and with the Duo model as one of its electric flagships of new urban mobility.
Concerning the closure of the charging station activity, Renault specified that all electric charging solutions will be gradually integrated into its operational commercial network.
The company emphasizes that what now disappears is the legal entity of Mobilize Beyond Automotive, but not, for example, the Mobilize company with its profitable division Mobilize Financial Services, which integrates the financing operations of the company’s mobility services and in which Spain -Mobilize España- plays a fundamental role as the company’s fifth credit operator.
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