Hyundai, Kia to invest $300 mn in India¡¯s ride-hailing firm Ola Cabs

2019.03.19 15:56:42 | 2019.03.19 16:46:35

[Photo provided by Hyundai Motor Co.]À̹ÌÁö È®´ë

[Photo provided by Hyundai Motor Co.]

South Korea¡¯s biggest automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller sibling Kia Motors Corp. will invest a combined $300 million in Ola Cabs, India¡¯s largest ride-hailing app, as it bet highs on the mobility market in the world¡¯s second most populous country.

According to Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, the two automakers on Tuesday signed an investment and strategic business partnership agreement with Ola Cabs and will promote multilateral cooperation in India¡¯s mobility market.

Under the agreement, Hyundai Motor will invest $240 million in Ola Cabs and Kia Motors $60 million. It is the single largest investment by the two companies in a foreign company that exceeds $250 million investment in Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab last year.

The automakers have turned eyes to overseas to ensure share in the future mobility age where ownership may become meaningless one day due to heavy barriers and little headway in the Korean car-sharing market.

Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun met with Bhavish Aggarwal, chief executive and co-founder of Ola Cabs, at Hyundai Motor headquarters in Seoul last month and discussed detailed partnership measures and exchanged thoughts on future mobility market changes.

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Ola Cabs – founded in 2011 – is India¡¯s largest ride-hailing app that provides services in 125 cities around the world. About 1.3 million cars are registered with Ola Cabs, which has touched 1 billion in cumulative bookings.

Industry insiders noted that the latest investment will create significant synergy as Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors are the only two global finished carmakers to invest in Ola Cabs. Both carmakers have also been expanding their presence in India.

Hyundai Motor is the second-largest automaker in India that sold 550,000 cars last year. Kia Motors plans to complete construction of its production facility with annual capacity of 300,000 units in the second half of this year in India and make aggressive inroads into the market.

Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, and Ola Cabs plan to boost partnership in three areas – developing fleet solution business, establishing electric vehicle ecosystem specialized for India, and developing new mobility service. The three companies will also develop a customized electric vehicle for the Indian market that will be used for car-hailing service given Indian government¡¯s plan to convert all new vehicles on the roads to electric vehicles by 2030.

By Lee Jae-cheol and Lee Eun-joo

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