Uber CEO’s Asia trip underscores its persistent global ambitions

Bloomberg

Uber Technologies Inc. isn’t ready to give up the world.
Dara Khosrowshahi, in his first trip to Asia since becoming chief executive officer, made it clear that the ride-hailing company isn’t about to scale back its business to just countries where it already has a strong market position. During his first stop in Japan, he said he’s willing to forge partnerships with taxi companies in order to succeed, even though Uber has less 1 percent market share and only offers limited services there.
“I saw Japan as an incredible opportunity, and when I asked the team why wasn’t our Japan business larger, I started learning the history of our approach to Japan, and it was an approach that frankly didn’t work,” Khosrowshahi said in Tokyo on Tuesday. “It’s clear to me that we need to come in with partnership in mind, and in particular a partnership with the taxi industry here.”
It’s the clearest sign yet that ride-hailing giant will redouble efforts to take a piece of Japan’s $16 billion taxi market, even amid signs of pressure from its biggest shareholder, SoftBank Group Corp., to focus on core markets. Amid heavy operating losses, Uber has retreated from some markets, including China and Russia. It’s also said to be considering a sale of its Southeast Asian business. After Japan, Khosrowshahi is scheduled to visit India, where Uber is competing against local ride-hailing startup Ola.
Last month, Rajeev Misra, a SoftBank executive joining Uber’s board, suggested in an interview with the
Financial Times that Uber focus on core markets such as the US, Europe, Latin America and Australia. Khosrowshahi pushed back against that notion in an interview he gave at Davos, saying the company would be “leaning forward” to expand. Moreover, Uber is aiming to hold an initial public offering as soon as next year, making it even more important for the CEO to highlight potential areas of future growth.
While Khosrowshahi didn’t announce any specific deals during his visit to Japan, he made clear that Uber would make a renewed push to expand in the country. Although Uber has clashed with taxi rivals and regulators around the world, it has played by the rules in the archipelago, relegating its business to car hires and a ride-sharing programme for the elderly in a small rural town.
Uber still faces an uphill battle in Japan. Local rivals such as Nihon Kotsu Co., Tokyo’s largest cab company, have already released popular taxi-hailing apps. Uber’s Chinese rival Didi Chuxing in 2017 began partnership talks with taxi operator Daiichi Koutsu Sangyo Co., with the discussions facilitated by SoftBank, a person familiar with the matter told. Uber is also said to be in talks for a venture with Daiichi Koutsu.