GM's Maven car-sharing service is shutting down

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed GM’s Maven car-sharing service. Customers are receiving notices that Maven is no longer available “effective immediately.” In its messaging, the company cited business performance, the industry and “what’s going on with COVID-19” as key factors. We’ve asked GM for comment.

In a statement to The Verge, global innovation VP Pamela Fletcher said GM had obtained “extremely valuable insights” from running a car-sharing service. What it learned would “benefit and accelerate” other parts of GM’s business, she said.

Maven was initially more of a direct rival to fleet-based services like Car2go, but expanded to let people share their own cars in 2018. It has been in trouble since well before the pandemic, though. GM shut down Maven in eight cities in 2019, or just under half of its base, and lost the brand’s CEO earlier that year. The virus played an important role in the shutdown, but it may have served as the finishing blow more than anything else.