Priceline Group Gave $2 Million to Rentalcars.com to Launch a Taxi Service
Skift Take
A next step for Rideways, if it really wanted to get out front, would be to transition to an on-demand service and start recruiting drivers, but being part of a public company, the Priceline Group, Rideways has to be very cautious about regulatory issues. That's sort of like trying to be a disruptor -- or a hedge against disruption -- with one hand tied behind your back.
It isn't often that a company launches a new business to disrupt itself but that's essentially what happened when the Priceline Group's Rentalcars.com spawned Rideways, which is a private car service aimed at international travelers and small groups.
When arriving at Dublin Airport, instead of renting a car from Hertz, Avis, or Enterprise through sister-company Rentalcars.com, some travelers are opting to use Rideways to get a private driver in a Skoda Octavia for the $52 ride to the Hilton Dublin Kilmainham.
Hikmet Babayev, the managing director of Manchester, UK-based Rideways, joined Rentalcars.com in 2014 and was charged with exploring ways that the car rental business might get disrupted in the following three to five years by on-demand car services and driverless cars, for example.
As a backdrop, big car manufacturers such as General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen have been partnering or investing in various ride-sharing services in a bid to learn and ensure a hedge against
