Uber's win-at-all-costs expansion strategy retreats in Germany

Frankfurt

UBER is rapidly expanding its ride-hailing operations across the globe. But here in this city of 690,000 - less than the population of San Francisco, Uber's hometown - the company recently did something unusual: It retreated.

In early November, Uber shut its small office in Frankfurt's centuries-old city centre after just 18 months of operation, mothballing the online platform that had let people in the city hail rides through a smartphone app. The pullback was spurred in part by drivers such as Hasan Kurt, the owner of a local licensed taxi business, who had refused to work with the US service.