Overview
- Multiple outlets reported on July 5 that Uber has put five of seven planned 2026 country rollouts on hold, sourcing the initial account to the Financial Times.
- The paused launches include Austria, Norway and Greece while the company is keeping recent expansions in Finland and Denmark active.
- Uber told the Financial Times that the Finland and Denmark rollouts had been a "huge success" and that it wants to focus on continuing that momentum.
- The shift follows Uber’s roughly €10 billion takeover bid for Delivery Hero in May and industry sources say the pause may be intended to lower merger-control and antitrust scrutiny because Delivery Hero operates in overlapping markets.
- The European delivery market is highly competitive with strong regional players such as Wolt (owned by DoorDash), and Uber had earlier predicted the seven-market plan could add about $1 billion in gross bookings over three years; Reuters has said it could not immediately verify the FT account and reporting remains developing.