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Ford Shuts Down Chariot On-Demand Van Service

Ford Motor Co. will close Chariot, its on-demand van-sharing service, at the end of January.

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Ford Motor Co. will close Chariot, its on-demand van-sharing service, at the end of January.

Chariot says it will stop offering commuter service in the U.K. on Jan. 25 and in the U.S. a week later. Remaining administrative operations will end in March.

Ford paid $65 million in 2016 to buy Chariot Transit Inc., which at the time was a 2-year-old startup operating in the San Francisco area. Since then the service has been expanded to several cities in the U.S. and London.

Chariot provided commuters with low-cost rides in 14-passenger Ford Transit vans between home and public transit hubs. Single rides cost less than $4. But Ford says the business proved unsustainable.

Ali Vahabzadeh, who co-founded Chariot, quit as CEO last February but remained on the company’s board.

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