By Max Bernhard 
 

BMW AG (BMW.XE) and Daimler AG (DAI.XE) said Thursday that they have applied to the European Commission to merge their car-sharing and ride-hailing services in a new company to be headquartered in Berlin.

The two German car manufacturers usually compete in the premium car sector but decided to join forces in March to better handle competition from technology giants such as Uber Technologies Inc (UBERI.XX) or China's Didi Chuxing Technology Co.

The proposed joint-venture company would combine Daimler's Car2Go and BMW's DriveNow car-sharing units, as well as ride-hailing and electric vehicle charging services.

The deal has been filed with authorities in a number of different countries and has already been approved in some cases, the two companies said Thursday.

Write to Max Bernhard at max.bernhard@dowjones.com; @mxbernhard

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 20, 2018 05:58 ET (09:58 GMT)