Dive Brief:

• General Motors (GM)-owned Maven will pull its car-sharing service out of eight North American markets, according to The Wall Street Journal. 
• Maven told Smart Cities Dive it will not share which markets it is exiting or offer "any further detail," however it's been reported the service will pull out of Baltimore, Boston, Chicago and New York. The Journal reported that Maven will continue to operate in Detroit, Toronto, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, among other cities.
• "We're shifting Maven's offerings to concentrate on markets in which we have the strongest current demand and growth potential. Through our business analysis, we learned that some markets show greater potential than others," said GM spokesperson Iman Jefferson in a statement to Smart Cities Dive.

Dive Insight:

While Maven said it will continue its car-sharing service and Maven Gig, which allows drivers to rent vehicles for ride-share and delivery jobs, the market exits are a blow to city transportation networks — and are sudden, considering Maven's rapid reach across 17 North American cities since its launch in 2016. 

In a March statement from Maven's public relations team, the company said it was "excited to accelerate the opportunities that we have built over the past 3 years, especially peer-to-peer car sharing." It said the company will evolve to meet cities' and residents' needs, and this current shift in its business reflects this desire to accelerate opportunities for the markets that are most profitable. 

For markets like Baltimore and Chicago, however, city leaders may need to supplement the loss of Maven with similar offerings that will keep residents away from single-occupancy vehicle trips. While efforts to increase public transit or micromobility use in these cities are strong, some residents depend on cars for their commutes. Therefore car-based sharing options like Maven are needed to meet vehicle needs while pursuing shared mobility.