'Macaron Taxi's Counterattack: "We Will Stop Kakao's Monopoly"'

Lee Haeng-yeol, CEO of KST Mobility
"A Win-Win Partner for the Taxi Industry"
Expanding Franchise Nationwide

Differentiated Reservation Services Including Taxis Equipped with 'Car Seats'
Increasing Electric Taxis

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Recently, while Kakao Mobility, the industry's strongest player, has been in conflict with the taxi industry over paid memberships, KST Mobility's ‘Macaron Taxi’ has launched a counterattack. They plan to expand their franchise taxis nationwide and become a rival to Kakao through differentiated strategies such as ‘taxi reservation services.’

"We will catch up with Kakao"

Lee Haeng-yeol, CEO of KST Mobility, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 24th, "The taxi industry supports Macaron as a win-win partner that can respond to Kakao's dominance." Since the passage of the amendment to the Passenger Transport Service Act last year, the mobility industry has been reorganized into a franchise concept called ‘franchise taxis.’ Kakao Mobility has maintained its number one position by increasing ‘KakaoT Blue’ to 16,000 vehicles. Macaron Taxi currently has 12,000 franchise vehicles and is chasing Kakao.

Macaron Taxi has recently expanded its business nationwide by signing contracts with organizations such as the Gyeongnam Private Taxi Association. Lee said, "As more market players emerge, the 8 trillion won taxi market has opened up to potentially grow to 15 trillion or 30 trillion won as predicted by the government." However, he predicted that the competition to steal passengers focusing only on ‘calls’ could become a chicken game. For this reason, Macaron Taxi chose a ‘reservation service’ model as a differentiation strategy. In particular, it gained popularity mainly among mom cafes by offering taxi reservation services equipped with ‘car seats.’

Lee explained, "We are looking at a customized market for reservation services rather than call competition." Passengers pay an additional 2,000 won reservation fee and can book a taxi at their desired time, with a driver arriving at that time. In fact, Macaron Taxi is establishing a taxi reservation culture. The proportion of reservation calls for Macaron Taxi reaches 20%. He added, "Reservation customers have high loyalty, and drivers can earn predictable income, creating a win-win structure where they do not have to engage in street hailing."

Lee Haeng-yeol, CEO of KST Mobility

Targeting Electric Vehicles and Smart Cities

In addition to franchise taxis, KST Mobility has diversified its mobility business into electric vehicles and smart cities. Last month, KST Mobility signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on ‘electric taxi batteries’ with Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai Glovis, and LG Energy Solution. KST Mobility purchases electric vehicles without battery costs by selling battery ownership to leasing operators and provides driving and battery data collected through electric taxi operations to companies. Lee said, "We are also preparing an app dedicated to electric vehicles." KST plans to further increase its current fleet of 250 electric taxis.

KST Mobility has also entered the ‘smart city’ business. They are preparing a proposal for the Jeju smart city main project and are negotiating with other metropolitan cities. A smart city is an intelligent city where ICT technology is applied to transportation, housing, environment, and more. He emphasized, "Since mobility is fundamental to cities, it is the core of smart cities," adding, "Entering the smart city market offers the advantage of securing a leading position in the region."

KST Mobility has set a goal of 20,000 franchise taxis this year, which corresponds to 8% of the 250,000 taxis nationwide. Lee said, "The key is who will stop Kakao's dominance in a market where alliances and mergers are occurring," and added, "We will expand franchise taxis nationwide by securing as many of the remaining taxis not covered by Kakao among the 250,000 taxis nationwide as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.