In a CBS Mornings interview, Lyft co‑founder and president John Zimmer discusses the company’s new in‑app services aimed at the 75% of Lyft users who own or lease a vehicle. Through a $9.99‑per‑month Lyft Pink subscription, members receive up to four roadside assistance incidents per year, real‑time tow‑truck tracking, discounted maintenance (15%), and the ability to find, reserve, and pay for parking in garages. Zimmer frames these offerings as a more affordable way to manage a personal car over time. The segment also covers Lyft’s recent financial headwinds: a layoff of roughly 700 employees (about 13% of the workforce), a steep YTD stock decline of about 76% versus Uber’s 32% dip, and analyst Brent Thill’s view that Lyft is a “one‑trick pony” lacking the diversified revenue streams of Uber. Zimmer counters that Lyft’s cash position has improved dramatically since a low‑cash period seven years ago and expresses confidence in the company’s future, including a partnership with Delta Air Lines that lets riders earn Delta miles on Lyft trips. The interview juxtaposes the company’s strategic expansion into car‑owner services with the challenges of a competitive rideshare market and recent cost‑cutting measures.
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First on CBS Mornings, and we like when that happens, so I'm going to say it again. First on CBS Mornings, the rideshare company that would be Lyft is launching new services for customers who have their own cars, even as it faces economic headwinds. The company cut nearly 700 people— that's 13% of their workforce— earlier this month, and its stock is certainly taking— has taken, rather, a beating this year. But co-founder and president John Zimmer is ready. He talked exclusively with our consumer investigative correspondent Anna Werner to discuss the new services, the company's future, and its competition.
Hey, I'm John Zimmer, co-founder of Lyft.
John Zimmer and his co-founders' brainchild, the Lyft app, provides consumers with that familiar ride-on-demand service. Just order a car and go. But now the company wants to offer the 75% of its customers who also own or lease a car additional services right in the app.
You can now tap a few buttons and a car shows up. Why hasn't that happened for car ownership? You know, whether it's, you know, parking all in one place, roadside assistance all in one place.
So with a $9.99 per month Lyft Pink membership, customers will have coverage for 4 roadside emergencies per year.
And now you can track the tow truck in real time and arrange for repairs or maintenance at a shop. Up front here you see the estimates.
And as Zimmer showed us, they'll also be able to find, reserve, and pay for parking in a garage.
So are you promising that your prices are going to be lower for parking or tow trucks?
That's the plan, yeah. So at $9.99 to get free tows, to get 15% off car maintenance, and then to get discounted parking, it should be over time the, the most affordable way to manage your vehicle. In those early days, we were told we were crazy to think people would ride in each other's personal vehicles.
It's the next move for a company that started in 2012 and now boasts of 3.2 billion rides since then, and a co-founder who started thinking about how to change the way Americans travel when he launched a startup called Zimride in 2007.
We're trying to make history by building a new form of transportation.
But expansion has its challenges. Some analysts see Lyft struggling in the shadow of the gorilla in the rideshare industry, Uber.
I do see right now a tough road ahead for them.
Brent Thill is senior analyst at financial services company Jefferies.
They don't have, uh, what Uber has with Uber Eats and many of the other product lines that they have. So there's just a greater diversification of revenue streams from Uber versus Lyft really being a one-trick pony.
That's why he says Lyft's stock price has taken a much bigger hit than Uber's this year, dropping roughly 76% year to date compared with Uber's roughly 32% dip.
What's interesting is you have some analysts downgrading you very recently here, and yet you're smiling and looking very confident. So what's the disconnect?
7 years ago, we had 5 months of cash in the bank. And now we have a much better situation. I'm confident in what we're doing. I'm confident, uh, in— we've overcome way harder challenges, and I'm excited about the future.
So are they wrong?
I believe so. I mean, if they're doubting, uh, our ability to, to weather any storms ahead, they're absolutely wrong.
The storms aren't over. Earlier this month, Lyft laid off nearly 700 employees, some 13% of its workforce, part of a trend of recent layoffs at tech companies. Zimmer says Lyft had to cost down.
But he says, look at how we've weathered whatever has been thrown our way, and, and don't bet against us.
For CBS Mornings, Anna Werner, San Francisco.
All right, John Zimmer, he seems to be saying, okay, bring it, bring it. They're still in business. The other thing I just heard about Lyft is you could— they have a partnership with Delta Airlines.
Yes.
So that when you, when you get a Lyft ride, you also get miles on Delta. I think that's pretty cool.
Guess who takes advantage of that perk?
Ooh.
And by the way, that is the kind of thing which makes me think, hmm, I'm gonna do this instead of that.
Right.
It's a competitive industry. Yeah. So the more features they have that helps the customers, the better.
But David, that is a very good perk, isn't it? Yeah.
