Starting today, Uber will be lowering prices in over 100 U.S. and Canadian cities. The transportation network giant is not immune to the slump of the changing seasons. “… When people hunker down at home, demand for rides drops,” the company said in a statement. The lull in business also hurts the drivers, many of whom rely on early-year fares to pay off their holiday credit card bills.
By lowering prices, Uber hopes to stimulate demand and offset the winter losses. The company cites its five-plus years of experience as reason enough to employ this strategy, which it has used for select cities over the past couple of years. In those areas, driver earnings have increased.
Since people prefer to stay inside during the cold months, nobody is moving their cars, which creates an even greater strain for parking in crowded cities. Uber hopes to reduce your Netflix and chill sessions by getting you out the house to face the chilly weather.
The higher demand actually leads to lower wait times, since the cars are constantly moving people around. It will also help to keep prices down, as the company will have no choice but to raise rates again if drivers are sitting around waiting for fares. In the meantime, those drivers are guaranteed earnings around the clock.
The price-cutting strategy does not always work, however. In 2015, earnings fell in some cities, and the rates had to be increased and adjusted. Uber cites Charlotte, N.C. as an example, where a 40 percent cut had to go back to 29 percent, after which drivers earned 20 percent more for the year. In Seattle, the lowered price had to be reversed entirely.
Each city is different, with Uber looking into economic circumstances, distinct regulations, and competition. The company is constantly running tests to give riders better value while also providing steady earnings for drivers.
Uber currently operates in 67 countries and over 300 cities.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.