GM, PSA see mobility as their marker

General Motors will still operate mobility services in Europe despite selling the bulk of its operations there to PSA Group -- and the French automaker plans to do the same in the U.S.

The automakers are doubling down on the promise of mobility services as revenue sources. While GM long operated Opel at a loss, services such as ride hailing and car sharing have a chance to prove themselves in Europe. PSA, meanwhile, views mobility as a way to gauge the tastes of American consumers after a long absence from the U.S.

GM CEO Mary Barra told reporters last week that the $2.3 billion sale of Opel/Vauxhall will allow the automaker to "continue to be very aggressive" in developing autonomous driving systems, electric powertrains and other mobility technologies. GM officials added that the company had no new initiatives to announce in Europe, but would continue to pursue existing projects.

The company's mobility services in Europe include its OnStar operations and a Maven car-sharing service for employees at its Ruesselsheim, Germany, location, which started in November.

GM spokesman Vijay Iyer said the company isn't ruling out expanding European ride-sharing operations, but that's not a priority now.

"There's a number of different options the teams are looking at," he told Automotive News.

GM, Iyer said, is "still in conversation" with partners this year to pilot Maven Home, a car-sharing service targeted at residential communities and hotels. He declined to say when the programs are expected to begin.

Europe has become a prime testing ground for mobility services, with a diverse transportation environment, forward-looking regulatory structure and openness to alternative powertrains, according to a report by McKinsey & Co. and Amsterdam Round Tables, a nonprofit organization.

And automakers are taking advantage of these opportunities. Volvo Cars began operating its Drive Me pilot program, which lets customers drive cars equipped with self-driving technology, in Gothenburg, Sweden, in January, and will soon expand it to London. Volkswagen in December launched its Moia mobility brand out of Berlin. In January, Ford Motor Co. said it would test a fleet of its plug-in hybrid Transit Custom vans in London. 

While GM is using mobility to maintain a European presence (beyond the small number of Cadillacs and Chevrolet sports cars it will continue to sell), PSA sees it as a way to re-establish a presence in the U.S., where Peugeot stopped selling cars in 1991. The French automaker will partner with a car-sharing service in April as the first step of its 10-year plan to re-enter the U.S. 

The service, run by French company TravelCar, will operate in San Francisco and Los Angeles and gives car owners free parking at airports in exchange for letting travelers rent their vehicles while they're away. 

PSA CEO Carlos Tavares said the mobility service will help the company "understand what the U.S. consumer is looking for."