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Uber seeking to buy self-driving cars: source

reuters.com

11–20 of 213 posts

Re: Uber seeking to buy self-driving cars: source

#11
post #6

Maybe I'm missing something but that number sounds hard to believe. An S-Class in the US is $100K. Even if a stripped down "utility" version was available at $50K that's $5B worth of cars. Yes, it's a "long term" order (i.e., not paid for and delivered at once), but that seems way beyond anything even Uber would do.

[deleted]

Re: Uber seeking to buy self-driving cars: source

#12
post #6

Maybe I'm missing something but that number sounds hard to believe. An S-Class in the US is $100K. Even if a stripped down "utility" version was available at $50K that's $5B worth of cars. Yes, it's a "long term" order (i.e., not paid for and delivered at once), but that seems way beyond anything even Uber would do.

"Uber had placed a long-term order" [...] "Uber is particularly interested in autonomous driving vehicles, the magazine reported, adding that such cars are expected to be available after 2020."

Perhaps the long-term order is a commitment from Uber to motivate Mercedes to invest more heavily in autonomous vehicles? If the long-term strategy of Uber is to have a fully autonomous fleet then a long-term commitment of $5bn with one manufacturer seems plausible.

Re: Uber seeking to buy self-driving cars: source

#13
post #10
post #6

Maybe I'm missing something but that number sounds hard to believe. An S-Class in the US is $100K. Even if a stripped down "utility" version was available at $50K that's $5B worth of cars. Yes, it's a "long term" order (i.e., not paid for and delivered at once), but that seems way beyond anything even Uber would do.

I'm sure there's a volume discount when you order 100,000 of anything, even an S-Class. There's also the possibility of this not entirely being a cash sale. That is, if the report is even true.

Think so too. Most likely Daimler will get a stake in Uber - which makes sense for both sides.

Re: Uber seeking to buy self-driving cars: source

#14
post #6

Maybe I'm missing something but that number sounds hard to believe. An S-Class in the US is $100K. Even if a stripped down "utility" version was available at $50K that's $5B worth of cars. Yes, it's a "long term" order (i.e., not paid for and delivered at once), but that seems way beyond anything even Uber would do.

Agree. Even if Uber got them at 1/2 price, let's say $60,000, the math doesn't add up. Assuming they don't do some fancy accounting and tax magic.

Or something completely boring like leasing them.

Re: Uber seeking to buy self-driving cars: source

#16
At that scale, customization is a given. Uber could leverage their own robotics resources together with Mercedes' to speed up autonomous vehicles time to market which Uber stands to benefit from substantially enough to justify this kind of investment.

Re: Uber seeking to buy self-driving cars: source

#17

Wow, that's a huge amount of capital to spend upfront. Wonder if this is for their black service or more targeted in Europe.

What gives you the impression it would be an upfront expenditure? My guess is it would be a 5-20 year deal and likely include financing.

Re: Uber seeking to buy self-driving cars: source

#19
post #6

Maybe I'm missing something but that number sounds hard to believe. An S-Class in the US is $100K. Even if a stripped down "utility" version was available at $50K that's $5B worth of cars. Yes, it's a "long term" order (i.e., not paid for and delivered at once), but that seems way beyond anything even Uber would do.

"Uber had placed a long-term order" [...] "Uber is particularly interested in autonomous driving vehicles, the magazine reported, adding that such cars are expected to be available after 2020." Perhaps the long-term order is a commitment from Uber to motivate Mercedes to invest more heavily in autonomous vehicles? If the long-term strategy of Uber is to have a fully autonomous fleet then a long-term commitment of $5b…

[deleted]

Re: Uber seeking to buy self-driving cars: source

#20
post #6

Maybe I'm missing something but that number sounds hard to believe. An S-Class in the US is $100K. Even if a stripped down "utility" version was available at $50K that's $5B worth of cars. Yes, it's a "long term" order (i.e., not paid for and delivered at once), but that seems way beyond anything even Uber would do.

That's what, 1/9th of Uber's current valuation? And it's the heart of their business.
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