Uber just recently announced that it is selling its car-leasing subsidiary to tech startup Fair.com.  The merger allows for Uber to focus on its core business of providing driver services while still providing their drivers with-out cars the option of leasing.  Fair.com will acquire the active lease portfolio of Uber’s current XChange Leasing company.  The XChange Leasing program allowed for Uber drivers to lease cars through a number of different dealerships.

Fair.com is an online marketplace and application that prides itself on leasing or renting a vehicle as a short-term solution for drivers.  As it currently stands, the company only operates in California.

With approximately 750,000 active Uber drivers, over 40,000 of them were enrolled in Uber’s direct XChange program. That does not include the number of drivers who may be leasing privately with an independent car dealership.  According to a report produced by Edmunds, approximately 1/3 of millennials lease their vehicles.  However, in the same report, luxury vehicles were also leased by up to 63% regardless of age.  Leasing has proven to steadily increased each year, and is projected to expand even more in 2018.

National marketplace websites such as Swapalease.com are becoming more and more popular as an option for drivers who want to do just that- swap their lease.  The site gives consumers all around the United States the option of breaking their lease without negative repercussions, ultimately giving the consumer their buying power back in the marketplace.   The sale of Uber services to a tech company like Fair.com only suggests that leasing will become a more popular option for the future.