ekar, the Middle East's first and largest personal mobility company, is launching operations in Thailand starting with Bangkok in January 2022, followed by other cities later in the year.
Thailand has been on restrictive lockdowns and curfews since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently lifting restrictions. As a beachhead strategy, ekar is launching its proprietary car subscription service which offers cars from one to nine-month terms for a single monthly subscription cost with no down payments or long-term commitments via the ekar app. ekar will be introducing its peer-to-peer carsharing services later in 2022.
“We are very excited to place our first footprint in Southeast Asia. Bangkok is an incredibly exciting opportunity, a city with a high smartphone penetration yet limited tech-enabled self-drive mobility options. Bangkok has eight times more cars and motorbikes than can be properly accommodated on its roads. ekar’s subscription and peer-to-peer carsharing services will allow residents and tourists to have access to affordable 4-wheeled mobility, whilst reducing the overall number of cars on the roads,” commented Vilhelm Hedberg, Founder, ekar.
All ekar Subscription cars, which are tech-enabled cars from existing fleet owners and car rental companies, come with insurance, maintenance, and roadside assistance and can be switched, traded up, or returned at any time. A user simply selects a desired model on the ekar app and a sterilised car is door-delivered within a 2-hour window.
ekar’s peer-to-peer carsharing allows individuals to rent their own cars out to the general public, and earn money. This form of mobility, like a subscription, will put a halt to the need to buy a car.
Since its inception in 2016 by Founder Vilhelm Hedberg, ekar has grown from a 15-vehicle pilot program with Etihad Airways to a multi-country service used by more than 250,000 customers and booked an impressive 1.5 million trips. ekar operates in UAE and KSA, and is launching Thailand and Malaysia imminently, with Egypt and Turkey launches scheduled for later in 2022.
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