Qiangsheng aims to drive into ride-hailing market

Shanghai taxi operator Qiangsheng plans to drive into the online ride-hailing business around the Spring Festival, the company said yesterday.

Qiangsheng is cooperating with State Grid Corp, Geely Group and Tokyo MK — a Japanese taxi firm — to put 1,600 new-energy cars in the market.

Geely has offered Qiangsheng 600 new-energy cars as the carmaker aims at “integrating with the Qiangsheng platform,” said Dong Kainan, manager of Youxing Technology, which owns Geely’s online car-hailing app Caocao Zhuanche.

Passengers can book the cars through Caocao Zhuanche or Qiangsheng’s hotline service and app. However, no price has been set yet for hailing cars online.

Qiangsheng is now recruiting drivers for its online hailing service.

“All drivers must meet standards of online ride-hailing,” said Zhang Liang, an official of Qiangsheng. “They will also undergo an elementary English course to cater to the needs of foreign passengers.”

Zhang said drivers will also receive service training from Tokyo MK to enhance their service awareness and quality.

Qiangsheng owns 12,000 taxis, taking up 25 percent of Shanghai’s total.