By Kit Norton and Al Root
Uber and Hertz just showed investors how personal transportation is changing.
Shares of Hertz Global soared Thursday following the announcement of two strategic fleet partnerships with Uber Technologies to support the ride-hailing giant's robo-taxi aspirations.
Hertz stock surged 16% to $6.47 at the opening bell on Thursday. Uber stock declined 0.6%. For comparison, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively.
The moves came after Uber said Thursday that it is working with Hertz-affiliate Oro Mobility to advance its robo-taxi and traditional ride-hailing fleet.
Oro services cars. Uber, traditionally an asset-light business model where its drivers owned the cars, is now investing in self-driving fleets. Those cars need to be maintained, creating the opportunity for Hertz.
Oro also will support Uber's autonomous robo-taxi program of Lucid vehicles. This includes charging, maintenance, repairs, cleaning, and depot staffing. Uber said Thursday that services are expected to launch in the San Francisco Bay Area later this year. Hertz and Uber will explore expansion opportunities in 2027, according to the press release.
The announcement builds on Hertz and Uber's longstanding ride-share rental partnership.
"This partnership with Uber establishes Oro as an integrated solution that connects demand with scalable fleet management services. Through this work, we're deepening our capabilities across diverse mobility use cases, and positioning Hertz to play a significant role as the industry evolves," Hertz CEO Gil West said in the press release.
The deal is the latest example of how personal transportation is changing with the advent of autonomous robo-taxis. Soon, a majority of Americans will be able to get in a robo-taxi somewhere, many run by Tesla or Alphabet's Waymo.
For now, robo-taxi pricing is based on what ride-hailers such as Uber charge. Eventually, costs will drop as more robo-taxis hit the roads.
When robo-taxis take a larger share, and ride-hailing pricing falls closer to their cost of operations, it will likely be cheaper per mile than owning a car. At that point, car buyers will have to decide: rely on robo-taxis or own a second car for the household?
The potential market is huge. Americans drive more than three trillion miles each year. It's a big reason why Tesla's stock is valued at roughly $1.7 trillion based on its fully diluted share count.
Cars still need to be owned, though, which is why Uber is getting into fleet management.
There are many changes coming with the advent of truly self-driving cars.
Hertz shares entered Thursday with a 22% gain in April. Shares are up 9% so far this year.
"Partnering with Hertz's Oro Mobility will help us continue to bring the best autonomous technology onto the Uber platform and accelerate the transition to a hybrid network in which both driver-led and autonomous ride-share operations can scale and serve communities reliably and efficiently," Uber COO Andrew Macdonald said in the press release.
Write to Kit Norton at kit.norton@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 30, 2026 10:31 ET (14:31 GMT)
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