car2go Marks One Year of Carsharing in Vancouver with 15,000 Members and The Best car2go Contest Yet

car2go Canada Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, is celebrating its first anniversary in Vancouver with record-breaking growth and more than 15,000 registered members. To share its success with its members, the company has announced "The Best car2go Contest Yet," which gives one car2go Vancouver member a trip for two to a car2go city in Europe.

When car2go launched in Vancouver in 2011 with 225 cars, there were 2,000 members and an average of 1,500 trips per week. Today, there are 320 car2go edition smart fortwo vehicles, and 15,000 members taking an average of 12,000 trips per week. In addition to expanding the car2go Home Area to 70 square kilometers and allowing members to pick up and drop off a car2go anywhere within the City of Vancouver boundaries, the number of car2go designated parking spaces has increased by 25%, making parking even more convenient for members. Additionally, three new smart fortwo electric-drive vehicles have just arrived in Vancouver and will soon be incorporated into the car2go network and available for members to use.
 
"It's great to see residents of Vancouver embracing new forms of transportation like car2go," said Mayor Gregor Robertson of the City of Vancouver. "Our goal is to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world by 2020, and carsharing is an important part of improving our transportation system and making it easier for citizens to get around our city."

"As the first car2go city in Canada, Vancouver has paved the way for other cities throughout the country, and the members here are setting a great example for future car2go cities around the world," said Nicholas Cole, president and CEO of car2go Canada.  

In June 2012, car2go launched in Toronto, Ontario, and on July 21, car2go will launch in Calgary, Alberta.

A Grand Prize Trip to Europe
To celebrate the success of car2go in Vancouver, the company launched The Best car2go Contest Yet on Monday, July 9 via a newsletter distributed to all car2go Vancouver members. Each car2go member who opts-in to the competition by clicking on the contest entry link in the newsletter will be automatically entered into the weekly contest draw for restaurant gift cards and the grand prize draw for a trip for two to Europe.

The grand prize winner will be able to select their car2go city of choice: Ulm, Hamburg, Berlin or Dusseldorf in Germany, Vienna in Austria, or Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The package includes airfare, 6 nights hotel accommodations, a spa and sightseeing package of their choice, and of course, the chance to drive car2go in another city!

To be entered into the contest, car2go members should follow these simple steps: 

• Be a car2go Vancouver member as of July 9, 2012
• Click on the link in the newsletter that was distributed on July 9, 2012 to opt in to the contest. By opting in, the member will be automatically added to the competition.
• Drive! For every 30 minutes a member drives a car2go, they will receive an additional entry to the competition. There is no limit on the number of entries a member can receive.  
• Review the full contest rules for information on no purchase necessary entries and for tips on how to receive additional entries into the contest.
• Email the car2go Vancouver team at vancouver@car2go.com with questions about the competition.

Additional contests for car2go Vancouver members will be held throughout the summer and fall. To stay up to date on all car2go news and contests, and to see the winners, please follow
@car2goVancouver on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/car2go.Vancouver.

For media inquires, please contact:
Katie Stafford, car2go Canada Ltd.                                                               
mobile: 512-497-5826                                                            
email: katie.stafford@daimler.com                                         

About car2go
A wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler, car2go offers an innovative mobility solution redefining individual transportation in rapidly growing urban areas by offering a network of several hundred environment-friendly smart fortwo vehicles for rent. It provides an innovative mode of "on-demand" transportation, which complements existing public transportation alternatives by bridging the gaps commonly associated with the "first and last mile" of a public transit commute.

car2go is currently operational in 12 cities worldwide: Austin, Texas; Vancouver, British Columbia; San Diego, California; Washington, D.C.; Portland, Oregon; Toronto, Ontario; Ulm, Germany; Hamburg, Germany; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Vienna, Austria; Dusseldorf, Germany; and Berlin, Germany. In November 2011, car2go launched the world’s largest all-electric vehicle carsharing network in the cities of San Diego, California, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, with the deployment of 300 car2go smart fortwo electric drive vehicles in each city. In July 2012, car2go will also launch in the City of Miami. Currently, there are more than 120,000 car2go members worldwide.

The innovation and environmental sustainability of car2go have earned international acclaim: In February 2012, car2go was named the "Best Carshare" by the Vancouver Courier. In September 2010, car2go was recognized by the Austin Chamber of Commerce with the "Greater Austin Business Award" for its positive impact on traffic in the city. The same month, car2go received the "Clean Tech Media Award" in the category of "Mobility" in Berlin. In May 2010, car2go was honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with its prestigious "2010 EPA Clean Air Excellence Award."

Further information on car2go is available at car2go.com and media.daimler.com/ms/car2go/e.

About Daimler
Daimler AG is one of the world’s most successful automotive companies. With its divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-BenzVans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world’s biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. Daimler Financial Services provides financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance and innovative mobility services.

The company’s founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history with the invention of the automobile in the year 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, Daimler continues to shape the future of mobility today: The Group’s focus is on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior automobiles that appeal to and fascinate its customers. For many years now, Daimler has been investing continually in the development of alternative drive systems with the goal of making emission-free driving possible in the long term. So in addition to vehicles with hybrid drive, Daimler now has the broadest range of locally emission-free electric vehicles powered by batteries and fuel cells. This is just one example of how Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its responsibility towards
society and the environment.

Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly all the countries of the world and has production facilities on five continents. Its current brand portfolio includes, in addition to the world’s most valuable premium
automotive brand, Mercedes-Benz, the brands smart, Maybach, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, Fuso, Setra, Orion and Thomas Built Buses. The company is listed on the stock exchanges of Frankfurt and Stuttgart (stock exchange symbol DAI). In 2011, the Group sold 2.1 million vehicles and employed a workforce of more than 271,000 people; revenue totaled €106.5 billion and EBIT amounted to € 8.8 billion.

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