Uber To Join Forces With Maruti In India

With its focus shifting from China to India, car aggregation major Uber will now merge forces with the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited to identify and mentor drivers from the latter’s training schools. 

With this, the Indo-Japanese manufacturer aims to impart training to more than 30,000 drivers for Uber during a four-month–long pilot project that will span across cities like Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and Chennai.

MSIL assistant vice president (driving and training), Mahesh Rajoria, told the Times of India, "The drivers will be trained by MSIL, assessed and then get signed on by the cab firm."

The drivers will be supplied from Maruti’s widespread network of 370 driving schools and six institutes of driving and traffic research. The trainees will undergo pre-assessment tests, theoretical training, practical training and post-training assessment for a period of 30 days.

READ: The Tata-Uber partnership

The Maruti-Uber association comes within days of another major taxi aggregation player, Ola striking a strategic partnership with domestic SUV-maker Mahindra & Mahindra to offer lucrative financing, insurance and maintenance packages to potential driver partners.

Similarly, Uber will also provide financing and leasing options to drivers upon successful completion of training. Based on the success of the pilot, the plan could be further extended across various cities in the country.

Uber is already hand in glove with Tata Motors in order to provide business to around 20,000 drivers in the country. The increasing success of taxi-hailing services has seen manufacturers profiting globally, with the likes of Toyota, Volvo and Volkswagen jumping on the bandwagon with various such tie-ups.