Indonesia's Miss Cosmo 2024 has a ride in Vientam's Xanh SM electric taxi. (Photo: Xanh SM)
The parent company of “Vietnamese Tesla” is actively broadening its electric taxi service throughout Southeast Asia. On December 19, the company officially launched its service in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, featuring a fleet entirely made up of electric vehicles (EVs). The goal is to tap into a market predominantly dominated by fuel-powered vehicles, leveraging its advantage as an EV manufacturer to create a new frontier.
Vingroup targets taxi services, EVs, and charging stations
Vingroup not only owns the electric vehicle brand Vinfast but also operates a taxi service. Its subsidiary, Green and Smart Mobility (GSM), provides passenger transport under the Xanh SM brand, with a fleet entirely composed of Vinfast electric cars. The service has been operating for over a year and a half across 61 cities in Vietnam, and Indonesia is its second overseas market after Laos.
GSM plans to deploy approximately 1,000 vehicles in the Greater Jakarta area initially, with a target to expand to 10,000 vehicles by 2025. Bali is also identified as a potential future location for operations, although further details have not been disclosed.
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Vietnamese electric taxi company Xanh SM operates a fleet exclusively using VinFast electric vehicles and has expanded into markets such as Laos and Indonesia. (Photo: Xanh SM)
To gain a strong foothold in the Indonesian market, GSM has formed strategic partnerships with nine local businesses, including the country's largest telecommunications company, XL Axiata, the biggest bank, Bank Central Asia (BCA), and major real estate developers such as Lippo and ASRI. These partnerships cover various areas such as fleet IoT integration, mobile payments, and service station establishment.
Vingroup is making a full-scale push into the Indonesian market in 2024. Its subsidiary V-Green signed a memorandum of understanding in December with Egyptian EV charging station operator Prime Group, aiming to invest $1.2 billion over the next three years to build 100,000 charging stations in Indonesia. Vinfast also entered the Indonesian market in March and is currently constructing its first electric vehicle assembly plant, with an expected annual production of 50,000 units.
Indonesia's taxi industry lacks electrification
Official Indonesian data shows that there are 65,000 taxis in the Greater Jakarta area, with the Blue Bird Group operating the largest fleet, comprising about one-third of the total. However, Blue Bird's electric vehicle fleet consists of only 200 cars, accounting for less than 1% of its total fleet. The primary manufacturers supplying electric vehicles to the group are China’s BYD, the U.S.’s Tesla, and South Korea’s Hyundai. Blue Bird aims to increase its electric vehicle share to 10% by 2030.
In addition to traditional taxi operators, online ride-hailing platforms in Indonesia have also introduced electric vehicle services. For example, Singapore's Grab partnered with South Korea's Hyundai in 2020 to launch an electric vehicle fleet, while Indonesian tech giant GoTo teamed up with Chinese automaker Wuling to offer electric vehicle taxi service at Yogyakarta International Airport earlier this year.
Source: Vietnam+、Xanh SM、Nikkei Asia(1)、(2)
