Exciting technology taxi war

Massive investment in transportation technology

With only a few days left until Uber and Grab complete their transfer plan, a new wave has begun in the transportation business market, which is the appearance of many motorbike taxi - technology taxi models of Vietnamese enterprises determined to find market share when Uber officially leaves the Southeast Asian market!

The transportation market is starting a new competitive war between Grab and other purely Vietnamese transportation technology applications.

Since mid-November 2017, Mai Linh has established a technology car center to attract drivers. After a period of testing the technology car market, this technology motorbike taxi booking service has been launched simultaneously in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City. To date, Mai Linh has attracted more than 10,000 technology motorbike taxis. Mai Linh's goal is 1 million technology motorbike taxis by 2020.

Director of Mai Linh Bike Operation Center (under Mai Linh Group) Nguyen Thi Kieu Nhung said that after the trial period, Mai Linh Bike is currently perfecting both the operating process and technology. The competitive fare is equal to or lower than other technology car companies (for regular cars, the fare applied by Mai Linh Bike is 11,000 VND/first 2km and 3,700 VND/next km).

The difference of Mai Linh is the commitment not to increase prices during peak hours. Passengers can rest assured that when there is any problem that needs to be complained, customers have the address to receive and support the earliest from Mai Linh.

Mai Linh Technology Taxi

The next domestic company to join the race is Phuong Trang Company, with the decision to launch the technology-based ride-hailing model VATO one month earlier than expected. Phuong Trang said it would invest 100 million USD (more than 2,200 billion VND) in the VATO application to compete with Grab, Mai Linh... VATO is considered a "Made in Vietnam" application, but it has been quite "unlucky" during the time when Uber and Grab exploded.

Initially, this application was called Facecar, then changed its name to ViVu, and now VATO when it received more capital. This application is not only for calling cars but also integrates many accompanying functions such as payment, phone calls, transportation, delivery...

Previously, in Hanoi, Didi Vietnam Technology Joint Stock Company also introduced the Didi Vietnam ride-hailing application. This company currently has only 500 vehicles and a network of operations linked with many taxi companies in Hanoi to meet customers' ride-hailing needs.

Price determines success or failure

While Grab drivers are complaining that Grab is reducing incentives and increasing the percentage of revenue, other technology taxi companies are choosing to increase incentives and benefits to compete. According to the Mai Linh Bike Operation Center, in recent days, the number of partners registering for Mai Linh Bike has increased many times compared to previous days. Every day, more than 100 drivers come to register to run Mai Linh Bike. Mai Linh Bike commits to only charging a 15% discount and giving away 100% of uniform fees if in the first month, the partner achieves a revenue of 2.5 million VND/month or more.

Mai Linh also buys insurance for all partners after they have been operating for 6 months. With Mai Linh Taxi, they only collect 12% of revenue for the first year (3-year contract) and the first 2 years (5-year contract) and 14.9% for part-time registered vehicles... The difference compared to other technology motorbike taxis is that Mai Linh Bike has a service to book a car through a call center (call 1055 nationwide). In addition, Mai Linh also accepts freight transport and school pick-up services.

Uber's withdrawal has triggered a race to apply ride-hailing technology, and domestic technology and transportation businesses have simultaneously "taken to the streets" to seize the opportunity.

VATO is applying a discount rate of 20% for partner drivers (Grab is 25% excluding tax), the opening price is 6,000 VND, the fare is 8,000 VND/km (other companies are 9,000 - 11,000 VND). This company also announced that it will guarantee a support level of 35,000 VND/trip for drivers. That means drivers with enough trips under 35,000 VND will be supported to reach this level. In addition, during peak hours, VATO supports drivers with an additional 20% of revenue.

This “Made in Vietnam” ride-hailing app is expected to buy pickup points at airports, bus stations, hotels, etc. to increase drivers’ income. To attract customers, on the launch day (April 1), VATO launched a huge promotion, each customer will receive a 50% discount code (up to 30,000 VND) for 3 trips a day.