Uber Expands McDonald's Partnership, Launches Parking Feature and Loses Robotaxi Engineering Leader

Uber Technologies and McDonald's announced a multi-year expansion of their delivery and loyalty partnership across 14 markets, naming Uber as McDonald's preferred delivery partner and edging out rival DoorDash. The agreement covers the U.S., Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K., and makes Uber Eats the integrated delivery partner for orders placed directly through the McDonald's app. The two companies first partnered in 2017 in the U.S. Shares of Uber rose 1.09% and McDonald's gained 0.63% in early trading on the news.

Separately, Uber launched a new parking reservation service called Uber Parking, its first foray into the category since acquiring parking app SpotHero earlier this year. The service lets users find, book, and pay for garages, lots, and valet options for a specific date and time, with free cancellation before the reservation begins. It is launching in 15 U.S. cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, drawing on SpotHero's network of 13,000 facilities across more than 400 cities. Uber One members receive 10% back in credits on parking purchases. Uber executives said the feature also has a strategic robotaxi dimension: by securing commercial contracts with parking providers at scale, Uber can identify lower-cost locations to stage autonomous vehicles rather than having self-driving cars circle city streets, reducing the cost per mile for customers.

On the personnel front, Danny Guo, a longtime Uber engineering leader overseeing robotaxi partnerships, core maps, and membership services, is leaving the company for an opportunity outside the transportation industry. His departure adds to a string of recent executive exits at Uber. Despite the management changes, analyst sentiment on Uber remains broadly bullish, with Wall Street price targets above $100 against a share price under $70, citing 18% adjusted revenue growth and 35% non-GAAP EPS growth in Q3, record cash flow, and expanding delivery and autonomous vehicle initiatives.