I can only see them making money in three ways :
- They scale up massively and capture a huge fraction of the ride sharing market, thus allowing them to offer low cost / low margin rides, but making up for it by volumes : At least in India, they are in a good position, but they seem to have conceded the other markets with high potential for growth like SE Asia and China.
- They have a premium offering that is actually quite a trend-setter : Revive the Uber Black service and take it up a notch, target richer clientele which will be willing to pay a premium to ride in a much better car and with trained chauffeurs.
- They push heavily in the pooling space - this allows them to use their vehicular inventory better as well as drive up margins per ride : This doesn't seem to be a huge focus for them as of now, but it could change.
The other big change that could transform their fortunes is if they put out a viable self driving product. I do not think it'll be economically profitable, or even technologically viable in the near term.
- They scale up massively and capture a huge fraction of the ride sharing market, thus allowing them to offer low cost / low margin rides, but making up for it by volumes : At least in India, they are in a good position, but they seem to have conceded the other markets with high potential for growth like SE Asia and China.
- They have a premium offering that is actually quite a trend-setter : Revive the Uber Black service and take it up a notch, target richer clientele which will be willing to pay a premium to ride in a much better car and with trained chauffeurs.
- They push heavily in the pooling space - this allows them to use their vehicular inventory better as well as drive up margins per ride : This doesn't seem to be a huge focus for them as of now, but it could change.
The other big change that could transform their fortunes is if they put out a viable self driving product. I do not think it'll be economically profitable, or even technologically viable in the near term.