Uber CEO says growth in South Korea promising despite underdog status

SK

30/08/2024 03:57

SEOUL, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc's
 UBER.N  CEO on Friday expressed commitment to the South Korean
market, where it is an underdog to local tech group Kakao
 035720.KS , and said the platform will attract more taxi
drivers for growth.
    "The fact is that a taxi driver who uses the Uber app will
make more money, will be more busy," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi
told reporters in Seoul. 
    "We are growing significantly faster than the market, and
we're confident that our market share will only grow from here."
    Kakao has a more than 90% market share of taxi-hailing,
estimated based on app usage data.
    Uber first entered the South Korean market in 2013, but
pulled out due to regulations that only allow companies with
taxi licenses to offer ride services. 
    In 2021, Uber re-entered the market by setting up a joint
venture with South Korea's second-largest conglomerate SK Group,
called UT. 
    UT's taxi-hailing service was rebranded as Uber Taxi in
March this year. 
    Khosrowshahi said about 20% of South Korean taxi drivers
were on the Uber Taxi platform, and that the number of
passengers grew nearly 80% year-on-year during the first half of
2024, including a more than doubling of the usage by
international travellers to South Korea since the rebranding. 

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee; editing by Miral Fahmy)
 ((joyce.lee@tr.com;))