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GM Buys Failed Uber Rival Sidecar (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The major automakers have several new technologies to fear, ridesharing services and self-driving technology chief among them. Both of these could dramatically affect how consumers buy cars. So it's perhaps not surprising that after investing $500 million in Lyft, GM has now purchased the assets of Sidecar, a ridesharing service that failed at the end of last year. GM wants to use Sidecar's assets to bolster Lyft — presumably in an attempt to keep Uber from becoming too big. "Sidecar helped introduce the concept of peer-to-peer car-sharing when it launched in 2012 and essentially allowed anyone who passed a background check to offer rides to smartphone-toting passengers." GM will certainly keep the gained knowledge for themselves, as well: "GM is preparing to introduce its own set of transportation services, which it has dubbed Maven, the source familiar with the matter said. The initiative may allow owners of GM vehicles to give rides to other passengers who are commuting in the same direction."
The person familiar with the deal added that as part of the transaction, GM will also get a license to a patent that was granted to Sidecar CEO Paul in 2002: “System and method for determining an efficient transportation route.”
Sidecar executives believed the patent covered the essential intellectual property behind ride-sharing, though Uber and Lyft never responded to Sidecar’s repeated attempts to enforce the patent, this person said.
It seems a poor deal for GM that they won't get ownership of that patent so they can whack Uber around the head with; all they get is a license to use it. But perhaps there are more patents owned by Sidecar? Seems hardly worth buying the company at all, otherwise.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
The initiative may allow owners of GM vehicles to give rides to other passengers who are commuting in the same direction."
I'd be careful about something like this. Consider situations like VHS vs Betamax. The more 'open' standard nearly always wins.
If non-GM drivers have the choice of Uber, while GM drivers have Uber and Maven, but Maven only works for people who own GM vehicles, that's something like 75% of potential drivers and customers gone. Nearly always you can't simultaneously restrict your user base AND achieve market dominance.
Not that I expect GM to realize this.
I don't read AC A human right
Last century GM and friends bought then shut down public transport in Los Angeles forcing people had to buys cars instead. They were convicted and fined, but the massive profits they covered the cost of the fine. Apologists say GM did it because public transport was losing cash. So what does that mean? GM is a publicly spirited liquidator of unprofitable companies? OLRY?
Uber and Driverless cards if they really takes off could bite the car industry. Are we seeing a repeat? http://www.straightdope.com/co... http://www.latimes.com/me-2003... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
GM has missed the boat on this one. Uber already went in and poached all of CMU's top robotics individuals. The same CMU team that failed to finish DARPA 2004. GM has had the last decade to hire away self driving car experts but decided to make deadly design decisions instead.
Uber can find a body builder easier than GM is going to find Uber's expertise.
We're going to see a major shakeup in transportation across the board in the next 15-20 years, I wouldn't be surprised if GM didn't survive (or got broken apart and acquired). They've missed the boat on quite literally everything.
Why is GM buying these assets and Lyft assets? Didn't they just get $80 billion in taxpayer money in the form of a bailout 8 years ago? All the people who got screwed with pension loss and job loss due to GM filing for bankruptcy and getting out of paying those contracts should be furious. Furious that GM couldn't keep its contractual obligation to those pensioners and couldn't afford to keep the jobs in the US. Furious that taxpayers had to bail GM out. Furious that after getting tens of billions and still being allowed to escape pension payments, they are now spending hundreds of millions on Lyft and Sidecar assets. This is absolutely ridiculous that GM is spending money on things like this after getting bailed out and allowed to terminate their supplier, job and pension contracts by going through bankruptcy.
I don't know what/which/who but if history has taught me anything when the big boys are two steps behind the next best thing, the move is to buy up all of the companies with the patent portfolios and/or IP and use their wallet to crush the competition or maybe crush the service if it's not beneficial to their bottom line.
Cursory search shows Uber and sidecar are the only game in town when it comes to patents.