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By now, I think we all know what Uber is, what it does, and how it makes our lives easier. Bought too many groceries? Get an Uber. Too drunk? Get an Uber. Stressful day at work? Uber. Like magic—now, it’s really an expectation—any transportation woes vanish with the digital sight of a car heading your way.
Launched only seven years ago, Uber Technologies Inc. is an app-based transportation company headquartered in San Francisco, California, and operates in about 270 cities and more than 60 countries worldwide. Using the app is easy: just type in your current location, where you want to go, and hit request. From there, Uber uses its app to receive its ride requests, sending them out to drivers who transport customers to their final destination.
Increased Competition
The emergence of on-demand rides has become a popular business venture all over the world, but it has proved difficult for companies to break away from the congested pack. At the end of 2015, Sidecar, another on-demand car service, officially stopped offering rides and deliveries.
In addition to the now-defunct Sidecar, companies like Lyft, Curb, Southeast Asia-based Grab, India’s Ola, and especially China’s Didi Chuxing have all started to eat into the ride-hailing market share, becoming huge competitors for Uber. Didi is arguably Uber’s biggest threat overseas, and the ride-sharing giant conceded defeat in August, selling its UberChina operations to Didi and ending an expensive, bruising battle between the two companies.
Even Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL – Free Report) is becoming a threat to Uber, with plans to make its self-driving cars unit a stand-alone business. This initiative could put the company in direct competition with Uber, as the lack of a driver could keep costs down in the long-term. The company’s Google division also recently began a pilot program with Waze, a company they acquired in 2013, that enables thousands of San Francisco commuters to join carpools; Waze also offers real-time driving directions based on information from other drivers.
Self-Driving, Uber Style
But Uber is right on Google’s heels, and as self-driving car technology becomes more commercially available, Uber has been constantly beefing up its business strategies focused on autonomous driving. Back in September, it began testing its self-driving Ford (F – Free Report) Fusions in Pittsburgh; engineers rode in the driver’s seat, ready to take over whenever things got tricky.
Uber then introduced self-driving Volvo XC90s to San Francisco in December, and riders who requested an uberX were matched with one of these vehicles if one was available. Just days later, however, the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the registrations for its self-driving cars, as the company didn’t have the proper permits.
But Uber being Uber, the fleet of Volvos were on their way to Arizona within days. Uber already operates a self-driving car program in the state, and in 2015, partnered…