Mobility Monitor

Customer Experience

• FCC tackles call center offshoring with proposed rules requiring customer service agents to disclose their location and limiting overseas contact center call volume (CX Dive)

• Costco ties $470M in sales growth to digital personalization through product recommendation carousels and modernized display pages (CX Dive)

• Victoria's Secret ends Adore Me subscription offering and initiates strategic review of DailyLook styling service (CX Dive)

• Agentic AI is disrupting the brand-customer relationship as consumers increasingly use third-party AI tools to research and shop (CX Dive)

Electric Vehicles

• BYD unveils 5-minute Flash Charging technology on new Seal 07 EV, charging from 10% to 70% in just 5 minutes (Electrek)

• Hyundai officially drops IONIQ 6 from US lineup while several Kia EVs remain in limbo despite record sales month (Electrek)

• Tesla sends Canadian Model 3 inventory to US as Canada's new Chinese EV import program allows 49,000 vehicles at reduced 6.1% tariff (Electrek)

• Chevy offers 20% discount on best-selling Equinox EV this month (Electrek)

• Suzuki acquires all-solid-state EV battery company, joining race for battery technology "holy grail" (Electrek)

• Two Tesla Cybertrucks destroyed in mysterious fire at Santa Monica parking garage; neither was charging (Electrek)

• Rivian quietly removes $45,000 starting price from R2 product page ahead of pricier dual-motor trim debut (EV Blog)

• Chinese automakers captured 41.4% of Israel's car market in February, their highest share on record (EV Blog)

Autonomous Vehicles

• Waymo vehicle blocks ambulance during Austin mass shooting, taking over 1:30 minutes to clear road after police intervention (AV Market Strategist)

• Momenta files confidentially for $1 billion Hong Kong IPO after exploring US listing in 2024 (AV Market Strategist)

• Tesla accelerates CyberCab production with 25 units filmed at Texas facility, though Vehicle Programme Manager Victor Nechita departs after 9 years (Electrek)

• Oxa raises $103M Series D (total $350M+) with half from UK's National Wealth Fund to expand industrial autonomy (Moving People Newsletter)

• KargoBot raises $100M Series B to expand fleet to 1,000 autonomous trucks by year-end, up from 400 currently (Moving People Newsletter)

Rideshare Industry

• Pony AI achieves robotaxi unit economics breakeven in Shenzhen and Guangzhou with average 23 daily orders (Moving People Newsletter)

• ComfortDelGro considers bringing autonomous vehicles to London following pilots in China and Singapore (Moving People Newsletter)

• Uber explores subscription-based models for drivers (Moving People Newsletter)

• Lalamove aims to double registered ride-hailing drivers to 20,000 by Summer 2026 (Moving People Newsletter)

Micromobility

• Zeus Mobility acquires Superpedestrian Europe, plans to deploy 20,000 vehicles across 30 European locations in 12 months (Moving People Newsletter)

• London e-scooter rides increase 54% from 1.3M to 2M with utilization up 50% to 1.5 trips/vehicle/day (Moving People Newsletter)

• Ryde launches 2,500 scooters in Frankfurt (2,000) and Aachen (500), Germany (Moving People Newsletter)

• Life EV completes acquisition of Rad Power Bikes' brand, IP, inventory and operating assets (Electrek)

Delivery

• Flink raises $100M at $900M valuation led by Prosus to expand in Germany and Netherlands (Moving People Newsletter)

• Just Eat Takeaway closes Denmark operations after 25 years, citing "challenging circumstances" (Moving People Newsletter)

• Rapido formally launches standalone food delivery app Ownly in Bengaluru with zero commission model for restaurants (Moving People Newsletter)

• IKEA China launches commercial robovan delivery with Neolix, cutting customer waiting times by two-thirds and halving transport costs (Moving People Newsletter)

• Uber Eats deploys Avride delivery bots in Philadelphia capable of 5 mph speeds, carrying 55 pounds up to 31 miles (Moving People Newsletter)

• Grubhub settles class action lawsuit over misleading fees for $5M and moves toward $24.7M settlement over driver misclassification (Moving People Newsletter)

Airline Industry

• Delta shakes up C-suite as CEO Ed Bastian enters second decade leading the airline (Skift)

• Heathrow's flight emissions drop 7% as third runway moves closer with approval dependent on sustainable aviation fuel scaling (Skift)

Retail Industry

• Gap brand sales jump 8% in Q4 marking eighth straight comparable sales rise, though tariffs eroded margins (Retail Dive)

• All Eddie Bauer stores to close after failure to find buyer following bankruptcy filing (Retail Dive)

• Levi's closes Dockers sale to Authentic Brands Group (Retail Dive)

• Costco commits to flowing tariff refunds back to customers through lower prices if received (Retail Dive)

AI/Automation

• US House Oversight Committee investigates OTAs including Booking Holdings, Expedia Group and Uber regarding AI-driven pricing policies (Phocuswire)

• Rivian details custom autonomy processor architecture unveiled at inaugural Autonomy and AI Day (EV Blog)

Travel Industry

• Dubai hotel owner Al Habtoor criticizes Trump over "dangerous" Iran war affecting UAE tourism and hospitality (Skift)

• Visit Greenland CEO Anne Nivika Grodem to step down in May as tourism grows and global interest increases (Skift)

• Samhi Hotels acquires 70% stake in Rare India, announces growth plans in experiential travel segment (Skift)

• Gharage Ventures launches 40M Euro Fund I to invest in approximately 30 travel retail startups (Phocuswire)