Lyft Now Has Its Own Luxury-Car Service & It Just Launched In Chicago

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 25, 2017 10:27PM

Lyft

Lyft has steadied its grip on the financial wheel in recent years—and the rideshare outfit now seems poised to further improve its standing, if only by simple virtue that it's not Uber. But the company apparently isn't content to wait curbside for their competition's next PR T-bone disaster: Lyft unveiled on Thursday its latest gambit to increase share—by jumping into the luxury-ride market.

The company announced Lyft Lux and Lyft Lux SUV (fancy!), two similar premium, black-car options for the formal-minded rider. Expect leather-y, luxurious rides at a higher price point. (The main difference between the two, as you might expect, is that SUV accommodates more passengers.) The new service rolls out Thursday in five markets nationwide, including Chicago.

If the whole concept sounds similar, it should. As Slate points out, it's all very reminiscent of Uber Black, the fancy-pants rideshare option that Lyft's chief competitor developed almost a decade ago. Nothing like destroying the master's house using his own tools, am I right? It actually seems like a bit of curious move, since as Recode points out, Uber has made it known that its own luxury service has been on the decline.

We haven't yet tried Lux—or for that matter Shuttle, the previous shiny new function to hit our radar from Lyft (think bus route meets rideshare). But we're curious to see how it takes. Let us know if what you think if you decide to pimp your rideshare.

[H/T Verge]