Uber's latest effort to become a super app is all about parking

By Bill Peters

Uber is buying the parking-reservations app SpotHero, as ride and delivery apps try to keep users engaged amid the rise of self-driving cars

Uber on Monday said it would buy parking-reservations app SpotHero.

After expanding into areas like food delivery and freight, ride-share platform Uber, in its quest to be more things to more people, is now looking to solve one of the biggest nuisances of urban living - finding a parking spot.

Uber (UBER) on Monday said it had agreed to buy the parking-reservations app SpotHero, a move that will allow people to book parking reservations on the Uber app.

Terms weren't disclosed for the deal, set to close in the first half of this year.

Uber said the new parking-reservation services would focus on commuters, events and airports. Uber One members would also get new parking benefits. SpotHero launched in 2011, and offers its services in more than 400 cities in the U.S. and Canada, according to a release.

"We've built Uber around giving people more ways to get around without needing a car," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. "But for the moments when people do choose to drive, SpotHero on the Uber app will make the experience easier than ever, and bring more people into the Uber ecosystem."

The acquisition was made as ride-share and delivery apps try to expand what they offer to keep users engaged, as the features available on those apps start to overlap. The purchase also arrives as the industry tries to stay ahead of advances in self-driving vehicles and competition from Walmart (WMT) and Amazon (AMZN).

DoorDash (DASH), for instance, has invested in autonomous delivery robots and restaurant reservations. Lyft (LYFT) last year bought a chauffeuring company to appeal to corporate travelers and transportation to big events.

Stifel analysts, when they began covering Uber in June, said they saw Uber as a "super app with multiple reasons to utilize the product." They said that autonomous vehicles, at least short term, posed a minimal risk, as regulations, potential safety issues and manufacturing and infrastructure costs with AVs get sorted out. Longer term, the threat was still unclear, they said.

Uber and Lyft have both partnered with Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Waymo to offer robotaxi rides in a handful of areas. Both ride-sharing apps, in recent earnings reports, tried to project optimism about the rise of self-driving vehicles, saying they stood to benefit.

Nonetheless, shares of both companies fell following the results. Some analysts have said autonomous-vehicle developers might not want to work with the ride-hailing apps as self-driving car fleets grow.

Uber's stock is down 7.5% over the past 12 months. Shares of Lyft are up 4.5% over that period.

-Bill Peters

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02-23-26 1803ET