Avis’s Connected Car Initiatives Bearing Fruit Sooner than Expected

Avis intends to expand its TNC rentals exponentially, by implementing continued use of connected cars.  Photo via Lyft.  Avis Budget Group’s second quarter conference call outlined how the company’s connected car initiatives are beginning to bear fruit right now. As a quick refresher, the “connected car” is a telematics-enabled vehicle that allows the company to… Continue reading Avis’s Connected Car Initiatives Bearing Fruit Sooner than Expected

Uber-rival Bolt enters European food delivery business

TALLINN (Reuters) – Estonia’s Bolt, a popular ride-sharing service in Eastern Europe and Africa, on Wednesday launched food delivery service in its home town of Tallinn, the nation’s capital, and said it plans to roll out Bolt Food this year in South Africa, Latvia and Lithuania as well. FILE PHOTO: A Bolt (formerly known as… Continue reading Uber-rival Bolt enters European food delivery business

Waymo: Building Cars is a “Distraction” From Self-Driving Tech – Futurism

Different Priorities When it comes to building and perfecting the self-driving car, some companies have elected to build a full vehicle from the ground up, like how Tesla is inching toward autonomous tech as it develops new car models. Others, Like Uber, are using other companies’ vehicles as hosts for their self-driving technology. Waymo, the… Continue reading Waymo: Building Cars is a “Distraction” From Self-Driving Tech – Futurism

Uber releases comprehensive proposal to update global tax rules

By Francois Chadwick, Vice President, Finance Tax & Accounting The digital economy has driven incredible advances in technology and transportation, creating new opportunities for people and communities around the world. Understandably, governments are trying to adjust public policy to address the dynamic 21st-century economy, including proposed international tax regimes targeted specifically at “digital” companies. Many… Continue reading Uber releases comprehensive proposal to update global tax rules

Our Journey to Driverless Cars

Two years ago, we launched our first-generation fleet of self-driving cars at a small retirement community in San Jose. It blows my mind to think how far Voyage has come since then. Today, Voyage’s self-driving technology is robust, reliable, and capable of complex interactions and maneuvers. We launched our second-generation fleet of self-driving cars with… Continue reading Our Journey to Driverless Cars

Why Retirement Communities Are Perfect for Self-Driving Cars

Today’s car is built for the average driver. The average driver can demonstrate reasonable reflexes, agility and vision. However, as we age, our reflexes, agility and vision begin to suffer. When they do, the confidence we once felt while driving quickly disappears. This can be incredibly debilitating. As driving becomes a struggle, many senior citizens… Continue reading Why Retirement Communities Are Perfect for Self-Driving Cars

Uber shares slide after reporting disappointing quarterly results

VIDEO3:2503:25Uber reported a $5.2 billion loss—What five experts are watching nowTrading NationUber shares dropped as much as 12% in extended trading Thursday after the company delivered disappointing second-quarter results.
Shares remained down roughly 8% in premarket trading Friday.
It was a miss on both top and bottom lines for Uber. Net losses for the ride-hailing company soared to $5.24 billion, largely owing to stock based compensation.
Here's how the numbers stacked up otherwise versus analysts' expectations (according to consensus estimates compiled by Refinitiv):
Loss per share: $4.72, versus $3.12 expectedRevenue: $3.17 billion versus $3.36 billion expected “We think that 2019 will be our peak investment year and we think that 2020, 2021, you'll see losses come down. I think our break even is something that we can push the company to break even if we really wanted to frankly,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a conversation with CNBC's Deirdre Bosa. “No doubt in my mind that the business will eventually be a break even and profitable business.”
VIDEO21:1121:11Watch Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's full interview following Q2 earnings missSquawk on the StreetExcluding stock-based compensation, Uber's losses were around $1.3 billion, roughly 30% worse than in the preceding quarter.
While Uber helped establish ride-hailing in markets all over the world, over the past decade, the company has been investing in and operating myriad “on-demand” businesses including food delivery, bike-sharing and a freight service that matches shippers with carriers who can haul their goods.
Uber's core ride-hailing business generated $12.19 billion in gross bookings during the second-quarter of 2019, beating analysts' estimate of $12.11 billion in gross bookings. But the newer, Uber Eats business generated $3.39 billion in gross bookings falling short of analysts' expectations of $3.51 billion in gross bookings.
Khosrowshahi said in the call with CNBC, “The Eats business is still a business that carries very significant growth going forward and that continues to attract a lot of capital. Not just in the US, but all over the world. With the eats business there's a lot of capital chasing a lot of growth and we're the leader on a global basis. So, I don't expect that business to be profitable in the next year or year after frankly.”
In recent weeks, Uber cut approximately 400 jobs from its marketing team.
The company boasted over 30 million riders in 2018. In July, the Uber platform reached over 100 million “Monthly Active Platform Consumers” for the first time, the company reported on Thursday.
Still, Uber has been working to keep riders, and drivers, loyal to its app with membership offerings and loyalty rewards, while battling formidable competitors including Lyft in North America, and Grab and Didi in Asia.
Uber previously recorded a $1 billion loss on $3.1 billion in revenue in its first report as a public company in May 2019.
Now, Uber must convince investors that, under CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's leadership, it is on a path to profitability with a realistic long-term plan for generating returns for investors. That's no easy feat since Uber, like other ride-hailing providers, has long subsidized its rides.
Uber priced its IPO shares at $45 in its market debut, and shares closed on Wednesday ahead of the second-quarter update at $39.15, trending higher after hours after its chief U.S. competitor, Lyft, reported lower than expected losses, higher than expected revenue, and gave a rosier outlook for the rest of 2019.
–Paayal Zaveri contributed to this report.
Follow @CNBCtech on Twitter for the latest tech industry news.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
VIDEO6:2906:29Uber is losing money — will it ever be profitable?Tech

Russia’s Yandex Accelerates Driverless Car Testing – Insurance Journal

Article 0 Comments Yandex, a Russian equivalent to Google, said it is considering expanding its fleet of self-driving cars to up to 1,000 within the next two years in order to speed up tests on the fledgling technology. Yandex hopes to start testing more than 100 of its self-driving cars on roads by the end… Continue reading Russia’s Yandex Accelerates Driverless Car Testing – Insurance Journal

UPDATE 2-China’s Ninebot unveils scooters that drive themselves to charging stations

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Segway-Ninebot Group, a Beijing-based electric scooter maker, on Friday unveiled a scooter that can return itself to charging stations without a driver, a potential boon for the burgeoning scooter-sharing industry. Ninebot President Wang Ye unveils semi-autonomous scooter KickScooter T60 that can return itself to charging stations without a driver, at a… Continue reading UPDATE 2-China’s Ninebot unveils scooters that drive themselves to charging stations

Now, Next, and Future: Tara Stentz

A profile series that introduces our team and showcases what we’re working on. My name is Tara Stentz, and I am a Software Engineer on the Prediction Team! I graduated in 2018 from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a minor in Computer Science. For the summer of 2017,… Continue reading Now, Next, and Future: Tara Stentz