Volkswagen has launched its new ‘sustainable mobility’ brand MOIA at Tech Crunch Disrupt in London.

VOLKSWAGEN IS set to take on ride-hailing business Uber with the launch of its new ‘sustainable mobility’ brand MOIA. Moia will leverage of VW’s recent investment in ride-hailing service, Gett, according to its CEO Ole Harms.

“MOIA is a stand-alone company under the Volkswagen Group umbrella, and will develop and market its own mobility services either independently or in partnership with cities and existing transport systems. In parallel, the Group brands will continue to move forward with their own services. Our sights are set on becoming one of the global top players for mobility services in the medium term. To achieve that we will be seeking to attract the best minds and technology start-ups”, Ole Harms, CEO of MOIA, said.

“Together with Gett we are pursuing a clearly defined expansion strategy in Europe – only recently, three of the Group’s brands launched the first joint initiative with attractive vehicle packages for Gett drivers in the growth market of Moscow. Further markets will follow soon”, Harms said.

VW’s Moia has said its aim is to introduce autonomous electric vehicles into its scheme which is exactly what Uber has said. More than this, Moia hopes to move into the area of car pooling via, of course, an app that will allow commuters to ride share on their way to work as well as commute via busses running out of scheduled times.

“At the same time, MOIA is also focusing on the second major area, namely the pooling business. The company’s goal is to set up its own on-demand pooling services via app – also known as connected commuting. The objective is holistic transport solutions that make individual transport and public transport more effective, thus avoiding unnecessary journeys and optimizing use of the existing road infrastructure,” Moia said.

This will involve the use of shuttles that will operate in-between scheduled busses in an effort to add flexibility to the daily commute.

The company is expected to begin trialing next year.