‘Inflation and Self-Driving’
Uber, a global mobility company, is the keyword that summarizes innovative technologies and new services this year. Uber held its largest annual event called “2025 Go-get” at Oculus in Manhattan, New York on Wednesday.
At the meeting, Uber presented a variety of options to use the car-sharing service at a lower cost than before. The service allows Uber drivers to operate the car every 20 minutes by choosing routes that require a lot of commuting time. Instead of sharing the car, the cost of the ride goes down. Uber announced that it will launch a car-sharing service using self-driving cars in Los Angeles next year. On the same day, the company unveiled a total of six new services. The core of the ride service is to enable Uber to use the service at a relatively low cost instead of sharing the car with other passengers.
What stands out most is “Route Share.” Uber drivers provide this service to and from major commuting routes in large cities. For passengers, if they apply for a ride service, they can get on a car for 20 minutes at a certain location. The price drops by up to half when using an ordinary Uber. It is also considered the Uber version of the bus.
Ride Pass consists of a fixed rate pass and a prepaid pass. The fixed rate pass is 2.99 dollars per month and allows you to fix your commute fee. You can save up to 50 dollars every month. The prepaid pass offers up to 20 percent off passengers who purchase multiple tickets in advance.
The newly added “Savings Slider” to Uber Eats enables automatic comparison of grocery prices at different stores. It also recommends products with fast delivery.
Through a partnership with the U.S. reservation platform OpenTable, Uber Eats app offers reservations from popular restaurants to car reservations.
“Many users feel price burden due to inflation and others have not used car sharing,” said Sachin Kansal, Uber’s chief product officer, in a meeting with Korean reporters on the day, explaining the purpose of the product’s development. Lowering the price will help meet the needs of existing customers to cope with inflation and attract new customers. Uber plans to collaborate with Volkswagen on a shared vehicle autonomous driving service to make its debut in Los Angeles in 2026. Over the next 10 years, thousands of Volkswagen’s self-driving electric vehicles across the U.S. will be used by Uber.
Uber is still using self-driving services. It is working with 18 major partners around the world in mobility and delivery, including Volkswagen and Waymo. Over the past year, Uber has been working with Waymo to provide self-driving services in Phoenix and Austin. It will also be introduced in Atlanta soon.
Uber plans to establish a “hybrid network” where both drivers and self-driving cars coexist. There are currently 8 million Uber drivers and delivery workers, but it is difficult to predict how large the self-driving car market will be.
Uber is leading autonomous driving technology and believes that ultimately autonomous vehicles will make roads safer, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. “In the end, it will provide users with a cost-cutting effect and have a much more positive impact on the environment.” Uber’s revenue rose 14 percent year-on-year to 11.53 billion dollars in the first quarter of this year. Its net profit came to 1.78 billion dollars, turning into a surplus from a net loss of 65.4 million dollars last year. The number of users of Uber’s monthly active platforms stood at 170 million as of the first quarter of this year. The figure represents a 14 percent increase year-on-year. The number of rides increased 18 percent to about 3.04 billion. Uber’s closing price was 90.41, up 49.88 percent year-on-year.
In Korea, Uber changed its brand name from Wooty to Uber Taxi in March last year, and is implementing aggressive marketing strategies. In the same year, Uber acquired a full stake in Wooty, a joint venture with SK Square subsidiary T-map Mobility, and established its own system. Uber launched U4B, a business-to-business (B2B) service, and XL, a general taxi for passengers with heavy luggage, in Korea this year.
However, it failed to reveal the exact timing of the service’s introduction to Korea. “There are no specific plans to launch new services including autonomous driving in Korea yet,” said CPO Kansal. “We will work closely with regulators, partners and taxi drivers to create the service.”
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
