Car manufacturers are in the finance business, whether they like it or not, cheap finance moves units, they are in the units business. So it is a necessary evil for them.

Regarding ‘owning the customer’, this is only true due to the pitiful lack of competition in the market today. No rider really ‘loves Uber’ they love the difference it is having, which is not to do with Uber the brand, just its market position. Drivers and riders will all play the market when another app comes out they will install that to.

Customers own Uber.

Taking London as an example as it has a large publicly run metro system, people use it as it has no competitor, they have affection for its brand too, but they still only use it out of necessity. Uber isn’t nationalised, so will have competitors soon, if Transport for London (TfL) wanted to, it could wade in and start its own app, what differentiator would Uber have, other than first mover advantage…?

Drivers and riders are free agents, something that Uber is at pains to stress, this very freedom could be the thing that enables competitors to gain momentum. Ironic.