German auto manufacturer BMW AG is the new surprise entry to the ride-hailing market as the company launched a luxury car service in Seattle today that competes directly with Uber Black and Lyft Lux.

The service, bundled as part of BMW’s ReachNow car sharing program — which in turn allows users to rent a car with short notice by the minute or by numbers of days — links users with professional drivers who naturally use BMW vehicles exclusively.

Like its competitors, ReachNow users can order a car for immediate pickup or book a time out to seven days for pickup, offers price estimates and also offers a built-in map showing where vehicles are located. But then it gets different. Along with a strict focus on luxury cars, users can customize settings in the vehicle via the ReachNow app, including setting the radio station and temperature. There’s also a “Quiet Mode” where the radio is off and the driver is limited in talking to them.

Trips are $3.24 minimum with rides charged at $2.40 per mile plus 40 cents a minute. Notably, there is no surge pricing, meaning the price is not dynamic during the day.

By comparison, Uber Black in Seattle has a minimum price of $7 per trip with a charge of $3.81 per mile and 35 cents a minute. Lyft Lux has a minimum price of $4 per trip with a charge of $2.81 per mile and 30 cents per minute. That makes BMW cheaper per mile but slightly more expensive per minute.

Described by Wired as BMW’s “throw everything at the wall and observe the sticky things” strategy, the jury is out as to whether ReachNow has a reasonable chance of taking reasonable market share from the two incumbent players. Initial reviews, including that of a trial of the service, have been mixed, with no complaints about the quality of the ride but poor reviews of the app.

For the broad market, it’s the first time a car hiring service has been combined with a ride-hailing service, another sign of further market consolidation among different transport services, such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. have undertaken with bike and electric scooter hiring. BMW does have first-mover advantage in offering customers a ride and a hire car if they want to drive themselves, but it needs to be more than simply first to market to succeed.

Photo: BMW