00:00Turo and Uber have partnered to make Turo vehicles now available through Uber Rent,
00:04allowing users to seamlessly book peer-to-peer car rentals directly within the Uber app.
00:10It is a huge development, to say the least, for the industry.
00:12It's a collaboration that marks a major shift in overall mobility services,
00:16and it offers riders more flexible, cost-effective alternatives to traditional car rental models.
00:23Here to tell us much more about the partnership and the state of play in the industry is Turo CEO Andre Haddad.
00:29It is great to have you here, Andre. Congratulations on the announcement. Let's start there.
00:33Why was this the intuitive next step, you think, both for the Uber side, but as well for you and your team at Turo?
00:40We're very excited about this partnership.
00:43You know, both companies believe that the future of mobility is one that's accessible,
00:47not necessarily cars that people have to own.
00:51As you know, Uber pioneered ride-sharing, Turo pioneered car-sharing.
00:55And the combination of the two services makes it easier for people to be able to live without a car.
01:01They can, of course, get a Turo for their long-duration trips and get an Uber for their short-duration trips.
01:08So walk us through what this will look like from the user experience.
01:11Let's say I've got familiarity with both apps separately.
01:15I've used both, but I log into Uber.
01:17What happens?
01:18You log into Uber, you click on rental cars, and you enter your address that you'd like to pick up the car at,
01:25whether it's your home, your office, an airport, a hotel.
01:29And then Uber will show you all the cars that's available, including Turo vehicles.
01:33Usually our Turo vehicles will be located very close to you because we have a very comprehensive network of pickup and drop-off locations.
01:40And if you like the Turo offering, you can click on that offer and rent it directly on Uber.
01:48And then it will transfer you to the Turo app so you can then check in the day of your rental.
01:53Why do you see this working to the benefit of both platforms?
01:57And what does this mean more specifically from the Turo side of things?
02:00Well, for us at Turo, it's a great opportunity to bring more customers to our offerings.
02:06You know, Uber is an incredible starting point for mobility and for all kinds of local services.
02:12And the fact that we can be embedded in that app enables us the opportunity to touch many more customers.
02:18And for Uber, I believe the big benefit for them is that it really reinforces their promise to be able to be the app for all mobility needs for their customers.
02:27How do you see this collaboration impacting the traditional car rental industry, which has obviously faced significant disruption within the last decade from both your companies already?
02:39Well, the traditional rental car industry is still doing well.
02:42It's growing.
02:43You know, we have very different offerings.
02:46You know, Turo tends to focus on an incredible selection of vehicles.
02:50We have 1,600 makes and models.
02:52Our network of pickup and drop-off locations includes airports, but it also includes all kinds of different options within the city.
03:00So they are complementary offers, and I think customers win by having more choice.
03:06Talk to me about the benefits that you see for Turo Hosts as well as Uber users as a result of this partnership, and kind of how do you envision it going?
03:15This is fantastic for Turo Hosts.
03:17You know, they're going to get a lot more customers without actually having to, you know, do any extra work.
03:22So it's a great opportunity for Hosts.
03:24I'm a host, and I have been on the platform for the last 12 years.
03:28I'm excited to start seeing my first Uber guests coming in for the first time in the last few days.
03:34So very exciting for our hosts.
03:36And, of course, for, you know, the Uber customers, it's a great way for them to leverage their Uber accounts to be able to rent cars with the convenience of their Uber account.
03:45How does this fit into Turo's long-term growth strategies?
03:48You know, the business has been doing well over the last few years.
03:52Obviously, there's been ebbs and flows with the pandemic and the revenge travel phenomenon, and we've had quite a bit of disruption in the space for the last few years, as you can imagine.
04:01But overall, the company has done well.
04:03You know, we started back in 2020 at around $150 million in revenue.
04:08Last year, we had $960 million in revenue, so grown quite a bit over the last five years.
04:15And this year, we'll be crossing the billion-dollar threshold of revenue.
04:19So the company is doing well.
04:20We've been profitable for the last three years with EBITDA positive, you know, over the last, actually, four years, I should say.
04:27And this is a big part of our strategy for future growth.
04:31You know, the embedding Turo within Uber, within Priceline, which is another partnership that we announced earlier this year, as well as other partnerships in the future, I believe is going to be a big part of our future profitable growth.
04:44Does this allow you to expand your footprint geographically at all?
04:49Are you able to now better serve areas that maybe you had wanted increased market share in, but for a variety of reasons, maybe had some headwinds trying to expand there?
05:01Absolutely.
05:01It brings demand from all over the country, all over the world, frankly.
05:04You know, Uber, Priceline have customers coming in and using their services, not just from the U.S., but also travelers into the U.S., so we're excited to tap into that opportunity.
05:14What are the top steps that you see being taken to try and make this as seamless a user experience as possible for, let's say, people who have been Uber users for quite some time here?
05:28You should check it out.
05:29It's actually incredibly seamless.
05:31So as you use the Uber app, when you click on rental cars and you start seeing all the options that are available for you near you, whether it's at your hotel or your airport or wherever you are, you'll see that Turo listing show up.
05:45It might be an attractive listing.
05:46It might be a special car that you want to get for a special trip or maybe a very convenient, you know, cheap car that you want for an errand.
05:56And whatever it is, you know, we've got a lot of different options that are available.
06:00When you see that car, you'll be able to actually book it directly and rent it directly on the Uber app.
06:06You don't have to create another account with Turo.
06:10You don't have to go to the Turo website to be able to complete the transaction.
06:13You can actually book it directly on the Uber app.
06:15So the seamlessness actually has been amazing to see how we've integrated our technology platforms together.
06:21Andre, you mentioned the pandemic a few moments ago, and I'm reminded of the current macroeconomic backdrop.
06:27We contend with this reality when we talk about the financial markets all the time, a potential deterioration either of labor market conditions, downward pressure on consumer confidence.
06:38We see the sentiment surveys, and I wonder how you and the team at Turo are positioning yourselves knowing that uncertainty is the word of the year in terms of maybe a company's ability to spend more or consumers' ability to spend as much as they want.
06:54How do you sort of prepare for that uncertainty knowing that your consumers, your customers may feel that squeeze in the pocketbook sooner rather than later?
07:03We are very concerned about this uncertainty, and you know, in these uncertain times, really the main thing that companies should focus on is controlling what they can control, right?
07:14And the things that we control are the quality of the service that we offer.
07:17So we're, you know, laser focused on delivering the best quality service for our customers so that when they're in, you know, the purchase of a trip, they consider us instead of others.
07:29So, you know, it's an opportunity to really focus on quality, and that's what we do all the time here at Turo, but particularly in these uncertain times, it's comforting to know that by focusing on quality, we can win over the long term.
07:42And then on the cost side, I think we've been quite conservative in our projections for this year.
07:47So we're deploying our investments in a more cautious way.
07:50We're looking at early signs of demand for the summer.
07:53Summer is a big season for us, and, you know, we see a lot of people, of course, use the rental car industry in general and Turo in particular, you know, for their summer trips.
08:03So we're, you know, we're looking anxiously at the summer season and are adjusting our costs and our investments accordingly.
08:11I'm almost out of time, but I'm looking up at the big board here at the Stock Exchange.
08:15Brent crude is down below $64 a gallon.
08:19Does a falling of gas prices that we've seen, Andre, service a bit of a tailwind for you?
08:24It does, actually.
08:25You know, when we see uncertain times, there's two tailwinds.
08:29You know, cost of gas comes down, and that helps people get into more cars and, you know, travel longer distances.
08:36The other thing that's helpful is when people are worried about their income, they discover Turo because it's a great opportunity for them to add some additional earnings to their, you know, their otherwise, their jobs.
08:49Andre Haddad is the CEO of Turo.
08:51Congratulations on all of the success and especially about this new announcement with Uber.
08:56Sounds very exciting and really grateful for you joining us today, Andre.
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