Aussies are changing their attitudes towards car ownership

Uber says it is focussed on offering Australians an affordable and convenient alternative to private car ownership and it has acquired peer to peer car sharing platform Car Next Door.

Both Uber and Car Next Door say since they both began local operations more than a decade ago, attitudes towards car ownership in Australia has changed thanks to technology making transport on demand a reality.

Founded in Sydney in 2012, Car Next Door offers access to cars for renters, whilst providing revenue to car owners, making it easy to turn any car into a shared car. The platform now also operates in Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston and Newcastle.

The deal builds on Uber’s ongoing investments in electric vehicles, micro-mobility, and public transport to reduce over-reliance on the private vehicle.

Post-acquisition, Car Next Door will report into Uber’s Australian team, but will otherwise operate independently, with its existing leadership team remaining focused on building and scaling its technology in more cities across Australia. 

 “Over the last decade, Uber has created shared rides options like Uber Pool, invested $800 million globally to drive electric vehicle uptake, and integrated micro-mobility, and public transport options into the Uber app,” Uber Australia and New Zealand general manager Dom Taylor says. 

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,” he says.

“We’re hearing from more and more people that they no longer feel the need to own a car, because getting transport on demand saves them money and hassle. In the 10 years since Uber and we launched in Australia, attitudes to car ownership have really started to shift,” Car Next Door co-founder and chief executive Will Davies says. 

“We see this deal as a big step towards making car-free or car-light living accessible to more people in more places and freeing up space for people, not parking,” he says.