GM has been rather quick to scale up its Maven car sharing service to cities across the country. It currently serves 17 cities across North America but has now decided to scale down operations by quite a bit. General Motors has confirmed that Maven is going to exit eight cities.
Maven was first launched back in 2016 and it allowed users to rent General Motors’ vehicles either by the hour or for longer periods of time. It was aimed at both people who needed a ride on their own for a short period of time or urban residents residing in apartments in dense cities like Chicago and New York.
TechCrunch reports that a spokesperson for the company has confirmed that Maven will indeed be shutting down in some cities but didn’t identify those cities or the number of markets which will continue to be operational. The spokesperson added that Maven will focus more on markets where there’s the strongest demand and growth potential.
According to another report, Maven will continue to offer its car sharing service in Los Angeles, Detroit, and Toronto. Washington, D.C. was believed to be on this list as well but subsequent reports suggest that it’s on the chopping block as well. The Maven Gig service, however, will continue to be available there.