Uber Australia announced the acquisition of peer-to-peer carsharing network Car Next Door in January 2022 during a visit to Australia by Uber’s US-based CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi.

Car Next Door has been operating independently since Uber’s takeover with co-founder Will Davies as CEO, but the brand will disappear in early November, bringing to a close a journey which lasted 10 years since its beginnings in Sydney.

Car Next Door is to be rebranded as Uber Carshare with Uber preparing to expand this Aussie success story internationally to North America.

Car Next Door was founded in Australia in 2013 to challenge the “one person, one car” notion in an attempt to reduce some of the negative impacts of cars on cities such as pollution and congestion.

The idea was to offer customers convenient access to cars to rent by the hour or day, while generating revenue for car owners, making it easy to turn any car into a shared car.

More than 1.1 million trips have been booked with Car Next Door since 2013 and the platform has seen significant growth since joining forces with Uber.

The number of cars available to rent on the platform has nearly doubled, with car owners growing by 60 per cent and car borrowers by 20 per cent.

The endeavour “will help us better integrate the service into Uber’s other offerings and provide Aussies a comprehensive range of mobility options,” Uber said in a statement.

“The rebranding of Car Next Door to Uber Carshare will be effective from November 8, featuring classic rideshare to public transport and micro mobility options like scooters, while offering easy access to cars nearby when you want to drive yourself,” the statement said.

“Current users will simply need to update the app, while new users will be required to install the Uber Carshare app.”

Taking the “enthusiasm for the service here in Australia”, Uber has decided to launch Uber Carshare in North America by the middle of 2023.

“Aussies are embracing peer-to-peer car-sharing as a mainstream alternative to owning a car, and we couldn’t be more excited to be launching Uber Carshare to international markets,” general manager of Uber Australia and New Zealand Dom Taylor said.

“Car Next Door is a great Australian success story, and as it evolves to Uber Carshare, we can’t wait for it to be a global success as well,” he said.

“We built Car Next Door to help challenge the ‘one person, one car’ mentality and make sharing cars a simple, great experience for everyone,” CEO of Car Next Door Will Davies said.

“Bringing our carsharing service together with Uber’s range of mobility options means that Aussies can now access a better way to move – whether they’re catching a rideshare for a night out or borrowing a local van to move house.

“We’re really proud to have developed a technology and service here in Australia that will soon be exported to the world through Uber’s platform,” he said.

The Car Next Door app will be updated to reflect the new name, Uber Carshare, and its new look from 8 November.

“Uber Carshare will function in exactly the same way as Car Next Door and continue to be supported by the same dedicated team,” Uber said in its statement.

“Current users will simply need to update the app, while new users will be required to install the Uber Carshare app.”