In a clear indication of a shift in strategy ride-hailing application Uber, which has been in the Indian market for nine years, now has more trips on three- and two-wheelers than four- wheel cabs and taxis
The three and two-wheeler services, called Uber Auto and Uber Moto, were introduced in 2019 and have seen a rise in demand after the opening of the Indian market post the coronavirus pandemic. This is also in line with Uber’s strategy to move into tier-2 and -3 cities as part of its growth plans to reach 100 million riders in the country.
Diversified portfolio
“Uber has a journey on its diversified portfolio and only in the last three years that we have diversified into three- and two-wheelers and they are now the products that are growing at an accelerated growth rate. Today, we do more trips in terms of volume in three-wheelers and two-wheelers than we do on four-wheelers. These are large supply pool and large consumers who like the service. There are more autos in the Indian ecosystem than there are commercial cars,” Prabhjeet Singh, Uber India & South Asia, told BusinessLine.
NEW DELHI, 17/06/2016: Auto rickshaw and taxi drivers staging a protest against Central and Delhi State Government at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Friday. They were demanding ban of private auto and taxi services (Uber Ola etc).
Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Both the products Uber Auto and Uber Moto have witnessed a 3x fold increase in business in the country. Talking about getting the next 100 million consumers to use Uber, the company has shifted its focus to localised mode of transport that are comfortable with the riders.
“We are long-term in India and want to serve to a very large part of our address base. As a part of that we have now started really focussing on three-wheelers, two-wheelers high capacity vehicles, rentals and intercity. These are some of the new growth beds which have shown traction in the last two to three years. Three-wheelers and two-wheelers are a huge part of our overall game plan. We have our internal target of getting 100 million consumers who use our platform. It is a deliberate choice that we are making as we are doubling down on new category of products in the existing cities and scaling operations in the new cities,” said Singh.
Win-win strategy
Singh stated that both the products are a win for consumers and drivers. “The autorickshaw drivers are driving on the street and are also using the Uber application wherein the auto driver can have higher earnings of 15-20 per cent and choose the trips he can do in a day. A consumer who was used to get an autorickshaw on the roadside can now get the autorickshaw on their doorstep,” added Singh.
“As we interacted with consumers in many cities it was clear that many of the people would want the solution on a three-wheeler or a two-wheeler. Pre-pandemic we had 80 cities and now we have launched from 30 to 40 cities and many of them are actually three-wheeler and two-wheeler first markets. The first product they experience on the Uber app is three wheeler,” said Singh.
Published on
August 28, 2022