Uber picks up the pace in robotaxi race

Uber said it planned to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis next year in a bid to reassure investors about its autonomous bet at a time when its core business is being buffeted by driver shortages and higher fuel prices.

The San Francisco-based company told investors that revenues in its mobility business were about $7.5bn in the three months to September 30, about $200mn below analysts’ expectations. Group revenues were about $100mn higher than forecast at $14.8bn.

Operating profit of $1.4bn was sharply below expectations of $2.2bn after the company set aside $484mn for potential legal and tax settlements.

Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said higher fuel costs stemming from the Middle East war had hit growth. Uber expected the situation to worsen in the fourth quarter given “recent escalations during the busy travel season”.

“In multiple international markets, elevated fuel costs, tighter local labour conditions and competition for drivers constrained our ability to fully serve consumer demand,” he told investors.

Khosrowshahi said Uber was taking steps to give incentives to drivers through improved fees and sign-up bonuses. The company is also facing intensifying competition in the ride-hailing market from autonomous platforms such as Alphabet’s Waymo, with shares down by almost a fifth this year.

Khosrowshahi said Uber was on track to have about 700 fully driverless vehicles on its platform this year, rising to more than 2,000 by the end of 2027.

Uber has pledged to spend more than $10bn expanding its robotaxi network and aims to deploy more than 120,000 driverless vehicles over time.

The company operates limited services in nine cities globally, including Austin, Atlanta and London, and plans to add as many as 15 to the list this year.

Rival Waymo has about 4,000 vehicles on the road, mostly in the US. The Alphabet-owned division aims to have more than 8,000 cars on the road by the end of this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

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Uber said gross bookings — a measure of customer spending across the business — rose 20 per cent year on year to $59.8bn in the third quarter, in line with analysts’ estimates.

In September Uber announced plans to cut about a tenth of its global workforce, or about 3,300 roles, to free up cash for investments including its robotaxi business.

Uber has also experienced significant changes in management in the past year. President Jill Hazelbaker is joining OpenAI next month, while global head of delivery Susan Anderson left in June after little more than a year. Sarfraz Maredia, head of autonomy, is scheduled to leave later this month.