Uber profitable (again), Getir doubles down on the US, Cruise continues downsizing and Hindenburg takes on EHang

Uber (profitable), Lyft and Grab (adjusted-EBITDA profitable) Q3 reports; Uber & Autocab cancel “Local Cab” service in the UK; Lyft adds “Extra Comfort”; Bird shuts down San Diego; Getir acquires FreshDirect; Bolt Food exits Nigeria and SA; Cruise pauses, recalls and lays off; May Mobility receives $67M investment; Hindenburg takes on EHang; Volvo acquires Proterra; is gig-economy pay at the point of being a human rights issue?; and more with BusUp, Circuit, Revel, Otto Scooter, Swiggy, Zepto, Krave Mart, DoorDash, Peepl, Archer Aviation, Rivian, Lucid, Tevva. Let’s start #movingpeople. 

Ride-Hailing & Taxi, Buses & DRT  🚙🚐

Uber published its Q3 report - showing profitability for the 2nd consecutive quarter. Highlights:

- Gross booking, across all verticals, up 21% YoY to $35.3bn

- Revenue up 11% YoY to $9.3bn. Mobility contributed 54%, delivery 31.6%, freight 13.8%. Uber did miss analysts $9.5bn revenue expectations

- Revenue margins: mobility 28.3%, delivery 18.2%

- Income from operations $394M; Net income $221M

More analysis on TechCrunch. 

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedLyft published its Q3 report - beating estimates but lagging behind Uber on growth. 

- Gross booking grow by 15% to $3.5bn (Uber grew 31%)

- Good news: US Market share increased by 2 percentage points to 29%

- Revenue up 10% to $1.16bn

- Adjusted EBITDA positive 

- Net loss of $12.1 million

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedGrab published its Q3 report - achieving adjusted EBITDA profitability for the first time; targets positive free cash flow by the end of 2024

- $615M in revenue, up 61% YoY. Delivery contributed $306M (50%), mobility $231M (37.5%), financial services $50M (8%)

- Adjusted EBITDA $29M

- Loss of $99M, 71% improvement YoY

Interesting point: Grab rolled out its “saver” option, which enables lower delivery fees in exchange for longer delivery times, also enabling drivers to increase earnings by fulfilling several orders in a single trip. Now Saver is responsible for a ⅓ of total delivery GMV. 

In a surprise move, Uber cancels “Local Cab” service in the UK. Local Cab was launched after Uber’s acquisition of Autocab, roughly two years ago, and allowed private hire operators on the Autocab dispatch platform to access Uber jobs. The service received major backlash from operators, which feared losing control to Uber in the small towns in which they operated. Now the service is discontinued. In a letter, Autocab’s CEO wrote that the service will be implemented in other international markets. We’ll have to wait and to see when and which markets.

Lyft releases “Extra Comfort” service. Risher, Lyft’s CEO, compared the service, which allows newer cars, more leg room and the ability to choose a quiet ride, to Economy Plus tickets offered by airlines. Also, Lyft will offer credits to airport travellers whose drivers are late during the holidays, on Lyft’s scheduled ride service. 

Oversharing deep-dive on Revel’s moped operations shutting down, due to low demand. Vanguard slashes Ola valuation by over 60%, reflecting a $2.65bn valuation, down from $7.3bn in 2021. Circuit begins charging for rides in Palm Beach. BusUp launches “Brainer Project”, AI tools to create more efficient routes based on historic data and KPIs. DRT soft launch in Shropshire Council, UK. 

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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMicromobility 🚲🛴

Bird left San Diego, leaving the city without a micromobility solution. San Diego had it coming. The city imposed unreasonable regulations and have not effectively dealt with the theft problem in the city. Spin, Lime and Link left since the regulation was introduced in August 2022, by September 2023 leaving Bird alone in the city. Now Bird called it quits as well. The city is rethinking its regulation. 

Last-mile moped delivery operator Otto Scooter acquired e-bike rental ETT, growing its vehicle portfolio. Otto intends to expand into cargo bikes soon. Madrid bans e-scooters on public transport, following an e-scooter explosion in October (pictures in the link).  

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedDelivery 🍽🧺

Getir acquires FreshDirect, an online grocery delivery operating in the tristate area (North-East US), doubling down on the US market. FreshDirect has been delivering since 2002 (!), and its 3,200 employees are expected to keep their jobs.

Bolt food to exit Nigeria and South Africa. Bolt launched food deliveries in Nigeria in October 2021, and recently, April 2023, spread out to more cities. This leaves  Glovo, Chowdeck, Buyfood, and Jumia Food in the Nigerian market. We know that Bolt is preparing for an IPO, so this means we’ll probably hear more about market exists to improve numbers. 

DoorDash expands tracking of driver behaviour, keeping track of rapid changes in braking and acceleration. The data will be available for drivers. This will probably help with insurance costs. 

Peepl, a local delivery platform in Liverpool, closes. Peepl tried to fight big-players competition by taking lower restaurant commissions, and integrated blockchain coins into its offer. My two takeaways: (1) it doesn’t matter how good you are to suppliers, it is the consumer marketing spend that counts; and (2) blockchain doesn’t mix well with traditional businesses. 

Swiggy getting more ready for its 2024 IPO - chooses investment bankers. Zepto, Indian quick commerce, raises $31M in an extended funding round, following a $200M raise in August. Krave Mart, Pakistani grocery delivery, raises $6M. Zapp rebrands. Delivery Hero fined. 

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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedAutonomous & remote-driving 🤖℡

Cruise - pauses production of its purpose-built robotaxi, the Origin; recalls 950 vehicles; starts layoff, for now of operational staff.

“Cruise AVs are being remotely assisted 2-4% of the time on average, in complex urban environments”. Cruise confirms robotaxis rely on human teledrive assistance every four to five miles, and the company had 1 employee on shift for every 15-20 vehicles operating. And was the Cruise algorithm able to anticipate a kid's behaviour? Not 100%.

NTT, a Japanese corporation, to test driverless vehicle technology with Toyota Motor and invest $67M in May Mobility. May Mobility has seen past investment from Toyota. 

The UK government to legislate that automakers, not the people in the car, are responsible for AVs performance and accidents. This is good news for the industry, as it removes a major barrier to entry. Autonomous passenger shuttle service set to launch in Belfast in 2025, as part of a EU funded project. Unions urge US regulators to probe Waymo and Zoox. Why those two? Because after Cruise, those are the main US players in the market. Remember Zoox is Amazon owned. 

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFlying cars 🚁

Hindenburg Research, the short-seller behind the Nikola report (and others) published a report titled: “EHang: Hollow Order Book And Fake Sales Make This China-Based eVTOL Company Last In Line For Takeoff.” EHang refutes. Remember EHang recently received a licence for commercial flights in China. 

Archer Aviation to launch air taxi operation in India in 2026; intends to implement BETA’s electric aircraft charging technology; and set to debut Midnight at the Dubai Airshow. 

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedOEMs 🚙⚡️

Volvo acquired Proterra from chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

Tevva Motors sues ElectraMeccanica for damages of $75M after merger deal collapses. ElectraMeccanica claims Tevva failed to share “material information”; Tevva disputes. 

Rivian raises production forecast for 2023 by 2,000 vehicles to 54,000; narrows losses in Q3, reporting a Q3 net loss of $1.37 billion (!), a 20% decrease YoY. Rivian still has $9.1bn in cash. Also, Rivian and Amazon are no longer exclusive, which is good news for Rivian.

Lucid revises 2023 production amid softening demand for luxury EVs; will produce 8,000 to 8,500 vehicles by the end of the year, down from previous guidance of more than 10,000. 

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedGig economy 💰

De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, writes that “workers (are) being paid below the minimum wage, or even the poverty line, leaving them and their families unable to access an adequate standard of living”, claiming that low wages are a human rights violation, pointing a finger (also) at DoorDash. 

UberEats pilots work with Adecco, staffing agency, on gig-employment in the Netherlands. This follows a court ruling that Deliveroo workers are employees and not self-employed. 

Meituan denies rumours that its couriers must be under 45 years old, saying it hires couriers aged between 18 to 57. From a 2020 report we know that more than 83.7% of riders are aged between 20 and 40. 

Dubai to build 40 air-conditioned rest areas for delivery riders.

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