Uber has announced its acquisition of Car Next Door, an Australian peer-to-peer car-sharing platform that enables car owners to conveniently rent out their cars.
Car Next Door will now provide Uber customers with a transport option for trips that are less suited to ride-hailing, making this another alternative to private car ownership.
This deal builds on Uber’s ongoing investments in electric vehicles, micromobility, and public transport.
Dom Taylor, General Manager of Uber Australia and New Zealand, said:This year marks 10 years since both Uber and Car Next Door launched in Australia. A lot has changed in that time but one thing has stayed constant: a shared vision that we need to make transport not just safe, convenient, and affordable – but also sustainable. Uber has created shared rides options like Uber Pool and integrated micromobility and public transport options into the Uber app. What our app users haven’t had though, is the option for those mid-range and longer-distance trips. This deal will change that, and mean that the Uber platform can be a reliable and convenient alternative to the choice to own a car.
Post-acquisition, Car Next Door will maintain its existing leadership team and remain focused on implementing its technology in more cities across Australia.
The service already operates Australia-wide, with vehicles available to rent in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Cairns, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston, and Newcastle.
Will Davies, CEO and Co-Founder of Car Next Door said:This is an exciting opportunity for Car Next Door to achieve our mission of ‘freeing people and the planet from the one person one car mentality’ years before we otherwise could have. By working with Uber we can scale up our ambitions and look to move Australians away from the over-reliance on the private car which is damaging our planet and making our cities less liveable.
