Uber


Uber has been one of the frontrunners of the self driving car industry, investing almost 20 million dollars a month for the past 3 years. While this is very costly, if the self driving car technology is able to work, Uber will dominate the ride sharing market that is growing at an unprecedented rate. As of right now, Lyft is Uber's greatest competitors, and has a much better public image than Uber, as they treat employees much better, are more transparent about their policies to employees, and have comparable rates. However, if Uber is able to use self driving cars, their profit will increase dramatically, as they no longer have to pay drivers, and can turn the majority of their revenue into profit. 

As of right now, there are many issues with self driving cars, as there are many safety issues, and sometimes they go out of control. The earliest operational self driving cars are projected to come out at around 2022. If a self driving car operated by Uber crashes and kills someone, it would damage the reputation of the company and be a huge liability, as they would be sued for a lot of money. 

Furthermore, a lot of Uber's money is being spent for the self driving cars, and if it is unable to wrk in the next 5 years, Uber will have lost a lot of money that it could have invested in other parts of the company, such as treating its employees better. Furthermore, when self driving cars come out, less people might want to Uber, as they don't need to rely on Uber for convenience or when the are unable to drive. As of right now Uber is the top ride sharing company, but unless the self driving car technology improves, it will be difficult for Uber to continue to dominate the scene with Lyft and other companies entering the industry.

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 26, 2019 at 12:38 AM

    Interesting post, Alan! I knew that self-driving cars were still in the process of being tested and programmed, but I didn't know that Uber actually spent money on self-driving cars. Since Uber's main business right now centers around human drivers being paid to chauffeur users around, I wonder how the introduction of self-driving cars will impact those jobs created by the company. Uber is actually taking a gamble on the future of self-driving cars, investing billions into the creation of them and betting that they will indisputably change the future sphere of driving. However, only time will tell how successful their approach will be.

    Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-future-self-driving-cars-s1-2019-4

    ReplyDelete

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