Instead of letting the popularity of car-sharing disrupt their business, they are joining in, and even taking the lead, with their own new ventures in the hopes of holding onto existing customers and connecting with future ones.

Daimler and the rental giant Europcar have joined forces to create Car2Go, while BMW has teamed up with the car-rental company Sixt to form DriveNow. Both companies offer a technology-driven twist on the on-street rental model made popular by Zipcar, which itself is owned by Avis.