From Business Insider, December 11:
Uber CEO says robotaxis are a 'trillion-dollar-plus' business — and one market will drive the boom
- Uber CEO says one market will lead the robotaxi boom.
- Dara Khosrowshahi said robotaxis are a "trillion-dollar-plus" industry and Asia has major potential.
- The ride-hailing giant has been leaning hard into autonomous driving.
Uber is preparing for a robotaxi surge, and its CEO says one market will drive it.
Dara Khosrowshahi said in an interview with Bloomberg Television published Friday that robotaxis are a "trillion-dollar-plus" opportunity and Asia is a huge growth market for the ride-hailing giant.
"I expect to be in 10-plus markets by next year. And we want those markets to be in the Asia-Pacific region as well," Khosrowshahi said. Uber has self-driving vehicles in the US and the Middle East.
Analysts have long touted autonomous mobility as one of the biggest bets in the transportation industry. In 2023, McKinsey estimated that if robotaxis and roboshuttles scale, the shared-mobility market could reach $1 trillion by 2030.
Khosrowshahi said Japan has "great potential" for its robotaxi push, despite being behind in regulation.
"With an aging population, there's a real need for transportation, not just in the large cities but in the rural areas," he added. He also pointed to Hong Kong and Australia as potential key markets for its robotaxi services.
Khosrowshahi said Uber now works with more than 20 autonomous-vehicle partners — including China's Baidu, WeRide, and Pony.ai, as well as Waymo in the US.
"We will have access to autonomous technologies in the large cities and markets that really count," he added....
....MUCH MORE
February 2015 - The End Of Mass Car Ownership Is Coming Mr. Ford
May 2015 - Big Money: Uber Guts Carnegie Mellon Robotics Lab To Hire Autonomous Car Developers
Raising money at a $600 illion zillion fafillion valuation allows you to buy pretty much anything.
The way this is going to pan out is: you won't be able to own the
vehicle but its use will be mandated. The car is autonomous but the
people aren't....
Which led to June 2016's "Uber Is Stealing Scientists, But Only So It Can Lay Off Drivers":
Ain’t no partnership like an Uber partnership, cuz… an Uber
partnership will leave your previously elite research institution bereft
of researchers....
August 2015 - Understanding The Future Of Mobility: On-Demand Driverless Cars
You want economics? Here's a nasty person on the economics:
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."
—Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, May 28, 2014
