Currently present in 12 cities; to foray into 15 cities in the next one year
Kolkata, Monday, October
2016: Adding to the festivities this Diwali, Zoomcar, India’s first 100% self-drive car rental company, launched its operations in “The City of Joy”, Kolkata. This is the 5th city launch by the brand in a period of just one month and the 12th city overall pan India.
Kolkata has made it to the top 100 in the sixth annual MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index. The study is based on data from IATA, National Tourism Boards, IMF. Kolkata has always been considered a major transit destination for global and domestic travelers given the plethora of in-city destinations and its reputation as the entry point to Eastern India. Given this fact, Zoomcar is eager to scale up in the city and expand into other nearby cities over the next few months. Zoomcar soft launched its operations last month in Kolkata across three locations. The company has seen multiple use-cases where consumers have booked cars for traveling to nearby locations such as Digha, Shankarpur and Sundarbans. Users have also booked cars for in-city travel, including a huge surge in customers who went pandal-hopping during Durga Puja.
As one of India’s most densely populated cities, Kolkata can benefit immensely from mobility enabled self-drive car rental options. Car ownership rates in Kolkata are also some of the lowest of any large Indian metro. Given these realities, Zoomcar expects Kolkata to be its fastest growing city in the country and the company plans to add 1,000 cars to its fleet within a year.
With operations up and running in 12 cities: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai Mysore, Pune, and Vizag, the brand is looking at further expanding its presence in more Eastern Indian cities such as Siliguri, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Patna and more.
Commenting on the launch, Founder and CEO of Zoomcar, Greg Moran said, “We are incredibly excited to launch our operations in Kolkata. Introducing Zoomcar in the city means more flexibility and convenience for citizens and less congestion on the roads over time. We are confident that this will be a compelling alternative to ‘car ownership’ and help revolutionize the way personal transportation is viewed in the city in the years to come. Introducing a true car sharing model is a simple, yet powerful example of how technology can actually transform our cities.”
Zoomcar recently closed a $24M Series B round of funding, led by Ford Smart Mobility LLC, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. The fresh war chest will be used primarily for accelerating its innovative marketplace model, ZAP ( Zoomcar Associate Program), while furthering its technological lead around the overall customer experience. The company recently launched initiatives like doorstep delivery and ZAP to help reach even more new customers.
ZAP launched in early 2016 and allows individuals to purchase vehicles on behalf of Zoomcar, list the vehicle on a dynamic basis on its platform when sitting idle, and then finally share in the profit on a monthly basis. The company has witnessed robust adoption with an associate base of nearly 500. Zoomcar expects this marketplace model will account for over 50% of its overall vehicle inventory by early 2017. The funding will allow Zoomcar to reach a fleet size of >25,000 across 25+ cities by 2018. Along the way, Zoomcar will also significantly expand its current airport offering across all cities to better cater to demand.
About Zoomcar: Zoomcar holds the distinction of being India’s first 100% self-drive car rental company. It allows the user to rent cars by the hour, day, week or month. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Bengaluru, its service is presently spread across 12 cities. Its vehicle catalogue offers a wide and extensive variety of cars for self-drive in India, ranging from hatchbacks to SUVs to luxury vehicles at all-inclusive prices that include the cost of fuel, insurance and taxes. The company’s ever-expanding fleet is currently clocking over 2,000 cars pan-India and increasing monthly.