Toyota Tries To Gain Lost Ground By Dumping Millions Into Uber - Is That A Risky Bet?

Toyota Motor Corp. is preparing for a potential future where people don't buy cars.

That's behind the hefty investments that the company has made in ride-hailing providers, most prominently the $1 billion that it poured into Southeast Asian leader Grab. Toyota sees the partnership as an opportunity to get Grab to buy more of its cars and to push services like insurance and maintenance, Shigeki Tomoyama, the global head of Toyota's connected car division, said in an interview this month in Nagoya, Japan.

Read Article

TomM - 9/28/2018 6:17:55 PM

+2 Boost

Uber remains something questionable to me. Knowing that most drivers personal insurance plan does not cover the car when used for hire - and knowing that most Uber Drivers do not have supplemental commercial insurance - means that an accident could be a monetary nightmare - we already have cases of drivers losing their houses and life savings.

When forced to use such a service - I request PROOF of insurance before entering the car - and if they cannot provide it - I do not.

Still- Uber drivers remain a viable source of purchasing power for auto manufacturers. My question is - what happens when a city like NY requires their fleets to use the approved "cars".

quizz - 10/1/2018 1:53:30 PM

+1 Boost

Ride hailing in general is a race to the bottom; it's a commodity service that requires Walmart/Amazon level efficiencies to cut a slim SLIM profit. The biggest cost is labor; Uber's original business plan assumed that all drivers would be independent contractors. However, now many states are requiring drivers be classified as employees- this change amounts to an additional 14% in associated labor costs. There goes your margins.