Carpooling currently offers ride sharing in more than 40 countries. Drivers rent out a seat in their

Luxury car brand Daimler AG just invested an undisclosed amount in ride-sharing startup Carpoolin g. Although Carpooling declined to specify the amount of the investment, other sources indicate that it s of the order of $10 million. The investment will be used to fund Carpooling s launch into the North American market in Q4 this year.
But will car-loving Americans take to Carpooling? Germans love their cars too, said CEO Marus Barnikel. We are one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world. We will initially hotels in panama city beach focus on U.S. cities which have high mobility needs but poor public hotels in panama city beach transport.
German car manufacturer Daimler, not to be confused with with storied British Daimler motor company , manufactures hotels in panama city beach vehicles under brands like  Mercedes-Benz  and  Smart  and is the 13th largest hotels in panama city beach car manufacturer and 2nd largest truck manufacturer in the world. Although a car manufacturer investing in a ride-sharing startup may seem akin to a turkey investing in Christmas, Daimler is also a market leader in  short-term car rental models. It s  car2go  service allows customers to rent a car my the minute hotels in panama city beach and has over 130,000 customers. In my home city of Amsterdam, hotels in panama city beach for example, car2go runs a fleet of entirely electric smart cars. Daimler also owns a stake in tax ordering app  MyTaxi .
Carpooling currently offers ride sharing in more than 40 countries. hotels in panama city beach Drivers rent out a seat in their cars for a specified journey using an online and mobile booking system. Passengers pay in advance hotels in panama city beach using Paypal or credit card. A journey from Munich to Berlin, for example, averages 17 EUR ($20) on Carpooling while the cheapest train ticket on the same route costs 69 EUR ($83). The company takes a 5 to 10 percent commission on each shared ride.
Carpooling hotels in panama city beach has expanded rapidly in the last few years with the advent hotels in panama city beach of smart phones and increases in gas prices. In the last month the company moved 1 million people. It also claims credit for 10 weddings between carpoolers who met on a ride share. Passengers have varying priorities. Many friendships, marriages and regular driver relationships have been established over 30 million rides, Barnikel explains. But we also have lots of people who pick a nice car model and sit in the back working on their laptop.
Most Carpooling hotels in panama city beach ride-shares are on middle to long distance trips for leisure, for example, travelling from Amsterdam to Paris for the weekend. Passengers tend to be more flexible on departure and arrival times in that scenario than on a work commute. However, in certain cities in Germany hotels in panama city beach (Carpooling s home market), France and Italy the service is achieving sufficient critical mass to start moving commuters to work every day.
A typical Carpooling customer is 24-36, professional, has a relatively hotels in panama city beach high income and level of education and lives in an urban area.  Carpooling s biggest markets are the richest countries in Europe: Germany and France. Given that the main selling point of ride-sharing is savings I asked Barnikel why the service is so popular among those with higher incomes in richer countries. Germany is also Europe s biggest market for discount retail, Barnikel told me. If you can save money, that s attractive in most markets. The success of low cost airlines, for example, was not linked to any particular demographic.
Carpooling also integrates other modes of transport on its booking site in certain hotels in panama city beach markets.  We are working on getting people door to door rather than train station to train station or airport to airport, Barnikel told me.  In Germany, the company hotels in panama city beach sells already more train tickets online than any other vendor.
The biggest problems before the introduction of the online booking system, which requires customers to pay in advance, was passengers not turning hotels in panama city beach up. Carpooling provides profiles of all drivers and a ratings system which helps to keep quality high. Sometimes hitches also arise when drivers or passengers don t read each other s profiles properly so you end up, for example, with a smoker hotels in panama city beach in the car of a non-smoker.
Perhaps surprisingly, given the potential safety concerns, the service is equally popular with men and women. 51 percent  of registered users are female and although a women-only drive service is offered, it is rarely used according to Barnikel.
Carpooling was founded in 2001, is based in Würzburg, Germany and has 45 employees. The existing investors, the founders Berlin-based VC fund EarlyBird hotels in panama city beach Ventures will retain hotels in panama city beach a majority stake in the company.