Lyft to Close Rental Car Business

Lyft plans to shut down its car rental business and cut about 60 jobs, according to a report by Bloomberg. The company confirmed the news last week and it was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. 

The layoffs affect less than 2% of Lyft’s total employees and the jobs are concentrated within the rental business unit, says the report.

“We have decided to discontinue Lyft’s first party rentals business to focus on our best-in-class third party rentals with Sixt and Hertz,” Lyft spokesperson Jodi Seth said in a statement. “This decision will ensure we continue to have national coverage and offer riders a more seamless booking experience.”

After launching rentals in 2019, Lyft suspended them in March 2020 because of the pandemic. By August, it announced a partnership with Sixt to relaunch rentals.

In May of this year, Lyft had said that it would reduce hiring and cut expenses in part of the company. In 2022, the company’s shares have lost more than two-thirds of their value, according to the report.

Lyft’s car rental business had five locations and allowed customers to rent its fleet vehicles through its app.