BMW has confirmed it is seeking to introduce an hourly car rental scheme in Munich.

The luxury car maker is planning to debut the new car hire system close to the company’s head quarters in the city.

The move is being viewed as the manufacturer’s latest effort to build a business by letting consumers travel by car without actually buying one.

BMW will offer a range of its top vehicles for hire in the city, all of which are available to hire by the hour.

BMW’s decision to introduce a car hire scheme comes as statistics show that more and more people are opting to hire cars, instead of owning them.

This had led to the success of Streetcar in the United Kingdom.

Daimler has also introduced a similar scheme, Car2Go, which offers Peugeots and Smart Cars for hire on a short term basis.

Known as the Mu scheme, the system is in the process of expanding across Europe.

Under the terms of the BMW scheme, customers can hire a 1 Series Compact from the luxury car manufacturer for €16 an hour, while a 7 Series Sedan BMW comes from €32 an hour.

The scheme offers consumers the opportunity to hire top class vehicles for special occasion such as weddings and birthdays at a reasonable rate, as well as providing clients visiting the city on business the freedom to get about in their own high quality vehicle.

World Mobi

Also in Germany this week, World Mobi launched its new city guide to Munich. 

World Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the World Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, London.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Munich.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.