Uber CEO’s Pitch: Why Indians Should Avoid Buying A Car

When India’s auto sector grapples with a slowdown, Uber Technology’s chief executive officer said the nation should avoid the trap of car ownership.

“I think that the new world is moving from where ownership was priced to services,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO at the world’s largest ride-hailing company, who was on his second India visit in little over a year. In the developed world where there is very high car ownership, it sometimes prevents innovation, he said. The newer generation’s dream isn’t to own cars but to have freedom, and to have services on-demand.

India’s car sales are yet to recover from their worst slowdown in two decades amid slowing consumption in the economy. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that, among other factors, millennials preferring ride-hailing services like Uber and Ola contributed to the auto slowdown. India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., however, rejected the argument.

“The opportunity in India is it doesn’t need to be trapped by these established norms (of car ownership),” Khosrowshahi said on the sidelines of announcing a partnership with Delhi Metro Rail Services to deploy parking spots and introduce Transit, which integrates public transport, at 210 metro stations in India. “India can be the innovator for the developing countries of the world.”

Delhi will be the first city in Asia to launch Transit, he said. The public transport services will also allow customers to access real-time information and end-to-end directions of routes, a feature similar on Google Maps.

Uber is locked in a fierce battle with homegrown Ola in India. “We are here to stay,” Khosrowshahi said, adding that the country is core to Uber’s strategy in the coming five to 10 years and beyond. “India is a fundamental part of Uber’s growth going forward. It is a very important market for us, a top-10 market for us. We will continue to invest here.”