Uber

The transition to sustainable mobility is gathering pace. The oil group Total recently gave concrete form to its energy transformation, focusing on less oil and more electricity and gas, by renaming itself TotalEnergies. For its part, Uber has already unveiled ambitious targets in this area: zero diesel vehicles by 2024, 50% electric vehicles, etc.

Uber paid particular attention to the French market at a conference held in San Francisco on 28 April to present its new global approach and vision, dubbed "Go&Get". The American giant has just unveiled the addition of new services, which will come into effect in mid-May, to accompany the...

As in other metropolises around the world, Hong Kong taxis have a rather bad reputation. Although the fare is still relatively reasonable, users find them discourteous, with no command of English - the last straw in a city that was a British colony for 150 years - and selective. We...

Uber is starting 2021 by putting its good resolutions into practice straight away. To achieve the sustainable objectives unveiled a few months earlier - namely 50% electric vehicles by 2025 and the elimination of diesel vehicles from 2024 on the French market - new measures are coming into force. These measures are based on two principles...

Faced with a drop in the number of its customers due to the pandemic - particularly with the development of telecommuting - Uber Technologies has sold its self-driving car division to Aurora Innovation, a start-up specialising in autonomous driving. This marks a turning point for Uber, which had been advertising extensively about a future where...

Uber is continuing to diversify: after announcing the launch of Uber Rent in the car rental market at the end of July, the multimodal platform has now entered the motorbike taxi sector. The Uber Moto service is expected to be particularly targeted at business travellers with busy schedules and who travel a lot...

How did a company like Uber deal with this unprecedented crisis? Christophe Peymirat - Our reaction was strong and immediate. During the crisis, we took a courageous stance by asking Uber customers not to use our services in order to flatten the contagion curve by limiting travel. We also used the...

On 17 March this year, the introduction of confinement gave the impression that France had come to a standstill. Yet the need for mobility has not disappeared for a number of key sectors. "At the height of the crisis, we supported industries that were still operating, with many e-commerce companies asking us to supply their centres...

Regularly singled out for flaws in its security arrangements - the reason given by the London authorities for withdrawing its licence - Uber is stepping up its efforts to strengthen this aspect. Since 24 February, business travellers have been able to request a four-digit PIN code when making a booking. This...

Uber Rewards has been a long time coming, and you will have to wait a little longer before you can collect your first points. But the loyalty programme's arrival in France was made official on 29 January, and its effective roll-out has been promised "over the coming weeks". The most frequent customers of the VTC platform - particularly...

By posing as revolutionaries in the travel industry, new entrants such as Airbnb and Uber have created expectations that are sometimes difficult to meet. Is "disruptive" a concept that can be applied ad infinitum? Not for sure. As proof, these inventive players are still groping their way in the field of customer loyalty. For example, Uber...

New entrants to the travel industry are tending to irritate business destinations, particularly in Europe... While the Mairie de Paris - and hoteliers - are up in arms about the new sponsorship contract between Airbnb and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it is Uber's turn to attract the wrath of the public authorities. In London,...

Don't call it a "VTC platform" any more: Uber has been diversifying for a long time now, with the launch of its famous self-service scooters and bicycles. Today, Uber is even getting on board electric scooters: a first for the American giant, which has chosen to team up with France's Cityscoot, whose vehicles will "soon" be available for booking via...

On 11 June, Uber organised the third edition of its Uber Elevate Summit event. It was an opportunity for the American transport giant to reaffirm its ambitions in the field of flying taxis. Hitherto confined to its domestic market, Uber Air's development plan will now focus on the international market, with Melbourne set to become the third city in the world to...

Back from a marathon trip to Asia, after a ten-hour flight, the most sociable business traveller may have lost all desire to discuss the current weather or the latest sports results. Back on terra firma, the nomadic professional may also prefer to send emails during his VTC journey...

After revolutionising the transport and holiday sectors, the collaborative economy, driven by Airbnb and Uber, is now making inroads into the world of business travel. So much so that this phenomenon has become a challenge for companies and their travel managers, as well as for technology suppliers and travel agencies.

Uber is moving into a strategic market for business travel: the Middle East. The American giant has just made official its acquisition of Careem, its local alter ego. "Uber will acquire all of Careem's mobility, delivery and payments businesses in the Greater Middle East region, from Morocco to Pakistan, with a focus on...

Will 2019 see the disappearance of Uber vehicles from the streets of Brussels? That seems to be what the Belgian media have been saying since 3 January, based on a decision by the Brussels Commercial Court dating back to last December. No immediate impact on our activities For their part, Uber's managers have stated that the decision...

If you're running late for a strategy meeting, or just shivering in the winter cold, you don't want to waste time playing "Who is it? So Uber has just launched Spotlight on the French market. This feature is based on the principle of a colour code identifying the passenger. The passenger...

The Uber Rewards loyalty scheme has just been unveiled in the United States: when do you think you'll be able to launch it in France? Franck Monsauret - I'd like it to be as soon as tomorrow! The United States is a pilot market for launching projects and new products. We expect Uber Rewards to be rolled out in France in 2019, but...