NEW DELHI: Despite mounting losses and no likelihood of turning profitable in the near future, Uber will continue to invest in India, its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said here on Thursday during his first trip to the country.
The comments are in sharp contrast to the advice of SoftBank, a major investor in the ride-hailing firm which wants the latter to focus on countries where it already has a strong market position.
Dropping hints at his strategy for India, he said the company needs to become more local in the domestic market to take on its closest rival Ola. “They (Ola) are hyper local but we lead in providing quality services. We have global advantage on technology but to step up the game in India, we will have to become more local.”
On whether he’s facing any pressure from investors to scale down operations in loss-making markets such as India, he said, “While SoftBank may have an opinion, their’s is not the only opinion in the room,” adding, “It’s my belief that we need to have a balanced profile in terms of growth and investment.”
He said that while developed markets like the US will continue to get investments and will be profitable there is a need to actively invest in markets like India and Latin America, too, because of the sheer size. These markets have “huge growth ahead” for Uber, he noted.
Explaining this further, he said, “The mobility solution we are in has an annual turnover of $40 billion, whereas the whole transportation business is worth $5 trillion. There is a sky of opportunity for us.”
Uber has around 3 lakh driver partners in 29 cities in India. “Sharing along with electric vehicle and autonomous driving is the future,” he said.
SoftBank Vision Fund recently said Uber should focus on recovering its market share in the US and growing in key European markets to have a faster path to profitability. While India remains Uber’s largest market outside of the US, it is also the biggest cost for the company.