Car2Go leaving Denver amid company shake-up

Car2Go, the popular car-sharing and rental company, will be leaving Denver at the end of the October, the company announced Friday.

In a news release, Car2Go said it will also exit Austin, Calgary, Portland and Chicago by the of the year. The company cited a volatile and changing transportation market, saying it will refocus on cities such as New York City and Washington, D.C.

“This decision was not made lightly,” spokesman Kendell Kelton said in the release. “We have had to face the hard reality that despite our efforts, we underestimated the investment and resources that are truly necessary to make our service successful in these complex transportation markets amid a quickly-changing mobility landscape.”

Car2Go, a German company owned by Daimler AG, launched in North America in 2009, where it soon confronted the rise in ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft.

Car2Go entered the Denver market in 2013 when the city introduced rules on how ride-share services would operate, including parking.

In 2015, Car2Go scaled back its presence in Denver when it eliminated coverage in multiple metro Denver neighborhoods such as Park Hill and Globeville, dropping more than 8,000 members. It restored services to most of those neighborhoods 10 months later.

In 2017, the company replaced its signature blue-and-white Smart cars with Mercedes-Benz sedans and GLA SUVs.