In an freewheeling interview with The New York Times, Lyft co-founder and president, John Zimmer, discussed a lot of issues facing the ride-hailing industry today. From how the sector has evolved over the past decade to the future of self-driving cars, Zimmer touched upon a number of issues that were both serious and informative at the same time. However, it was what he said at the end of his interview that is now capturing the attention of sections of the global media, and amusing netizens worldwide.
While that last bit was no doubt, a tongue-in-cheek response, Lyft stakeholders will be hoping that so were the first two. Sure, if you’re the founder of Uber’s biggest competitor in North America, and have enough of your own cabs available, you need not enrich your rival.
However, high-level executives are known to often use rival products just to stay in the loop about the latest goings-on in the market. So if Lyft’s execs are not really doing that, maybe they’re missing out on a trick or two. Of course, it could just be Zimmer who is so Uber-averse.
On a more serious front, Zimmer doubled down on his earlier assertion that by 2022, a majority of Lyft rides will use autonomous vehicles. “I believe this will be the largest physical environment change that we witness in our lives”, he said. He also disagreed with Elon Musk’s notion that people will still buy cars in the coming decades, saying that, “I’m quite confident that car ownership will not make sense in the future”.
