Uber, the popular car service that already has a presence in three continents, has finally made a formal debut in Asia. For many weeks now, Uber had its cars ‘test-driving’ through Singapore. The company has formally announced the launch of the service in the city-state.
Before this launch, Uber already had a presence in Australia, Europe and U.S. With the inclusion of Singapore, Asia has also come into that list. Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, has repeatedly cited his ambition of venturing into the Asian market in the past. Now, the company has lived up to that vision.
In more than one ways, starting its Asian journey from Singapore is a very smart move by Uber. Singapore fares as among the most tech-savvy regions in the continent and the public transport system in the city-state is vast as well as preferred by many citizens. This makes Singapore an ideal place for a service like Uber.
However, the company will have to trim down its fares to muster any success in the region. Uber is currently charging a base fare of SG$7 to users in Singapore, together with a minimum fare bar of SG$12. Moreover, the customers are charged SG$2.25 per minute when the car is traveling 18Kmph or faster whereas the fare is dropped to SG$0.85 when the car travels slower than 18Kmph.
Compared to Uber’s fares in other regions in the world, these fares offered by the service in Singapore are fairly discounted. There is a real possibility that Uber may be able to gain a good foothold in the city-state and once that happens, the company will have sufficient motivation to launch itself into other neighboring regions.
Source: Uber
Courtesy: TNW
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