Germany’s Sixt says its car-sharing venture with BMW Group is profitable in cities where it has been operating for more than a year as sign-ups exceed forecasts.
“We’ve been surprised about the explosion of new subscriptions, which has helped boost revenue,” Erich Sixt, CEO of the car-rental company, said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters.
Environmental campaigners are bracing to take on big business over whether Europe should follow California’s lead and include road transport in the EU carbon market.
Bringing transport – Europe’s biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions after the power sector – into the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) could bring down the costs the car industry faces in meeting existing regulation as well as tackling the oversupply on the carbon market.
Dutch car sales will likely fall to their lowest level since 1969 this year, automotive industry consultancy group Aumacon says.
Automakers, aided by government subsidies, produced 5,799 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in China in July, 10 times more than in the same month last year.
Mercedes-Benz and Audi are closing in on global premium sales leader BMW as the race between the three tightened last month.
Results for the first seven months show that sales of BMW brand vehicles rose by 10 percent to 1.03 million units compared to the same period last year — the first time BMW has passed the million mark this early in the year.
