Thursday, April 12, 2018

Uber Is Launching A Car Rental Company Inside the App

Of course they are.
Plain talk strategy meeting:

"Okay boys, here's the plan: first we use our predatory pricing to destroy the rental business and then we swoop in, pick over the carcasses for what we can and genuflect in homage to (former) fearless leader":
"When there's no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle. So the magic there is, you basically bring the cost below the cost of ownership for everybody, and then car ownership goes away."
-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, May 28, 2014

Some of the 2016 and 2017 headlines that caught our attention:
April 2016
Uber is launching a rental car network in partnership with Getaround, the ride-hailing company announced today (April 11).
San Francisco-based Getaround lets users find and instantly book vehicles from private car owners, all through a mobile app. The new Uber Rent platform, which is scheduled to launch later this month in San Francisco, will make cars from Getaround’s network available to users of the Uber app.

The deal comes as Uber expands beyond its flagship on-demand rides and into other modes of local transportation. On April 9, the company said it had purchased Jump Bikes, a provider of dockless electric bicycles. Also today, Uber announced a partnership with London-based Masabi, a mobile ticketing company that Uber said will help customers book and use public transit tickets directly within the Uber app....MORE
Just so you know, in future we will be referring to the bikes as "A component of the multi-modal transportation system that is Uber"

Previously:
December 2014
"Avis and Hertz should launch their own Uber"
October 2015
Why Upfront Ventures Invested in Disruptive Rental Car Startup Skurt
November 2016
Dear Uber: So You Want To Be In the Car Rental Business?
June 2017
Why Is Uber Competitor Didi Raising So Much Cash?
...Didi has been an aggressive growth company from the start. It started with taxi-hailing then moved to ride-sharing. Now it is moving into car rental and integration with public services. It is also seeking a role in artificial intelligence, auto financing and shuttle services. Didi is thus pursuing key roles in the whole range of transportation services in China. So raising cash to continue its aggressive growth makes sense, especially with doubt shadowing its core Chinese ride-sharing business.
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