Cabcharge is taking its oldest taxis off the road.
In order to compete against the clean reputation of Uber vehicles, from January 2019, a six-year-old age restriction will be put on the nearly 10,000 taxis operating across the country under Cabcharge – soon to be renamed A2B Australia Limited next week.
With September quarter revenues up over 11% to the tune of $5.1 million over the same period in 2017, the 13CABS rebranding and advertising efforts in 2018 and the recent investment into Mobile Technologies International, chief executive Andrew Skelton says the fleet needs to be up to standard.
“We’ve done enough in investing in our technology and services, and we now think it’s fair that our taxi operators go the next step,” he tells the Financial Review.
Cabcharge/A2B Limited chief executive Andrew Skelton. Image: LinkedIn
Skelton says some resistance is expected.
“Not everyone will catch our bus, but we will try and help them,” he says.
“With the angst as industry was thrown to the wolves, people have held back in reinvesting,” Skelton explains of cab drivers holding onto their old taxis.
Fleets of Falcons, Commodores, Caprices and Camrys will be replaced by newer, safer cabs operated under 13CABS, Silver Service and Silver Top, Legion Cabs, Manly Cabs, RSL Cabs, and St George Cabs.
Popular choices for cabbies now replacing old taxis include large SUVs like Toyota Kluger, RAV4, Kia Carnival, Hyundai Tuscon and the ultra-frugal Toyota Camry Hybrid.
The business also says the name change will improve its appearance.
“It is the right time for the company to adopt a corporate identity that better represents the breadth of its current operations, marks the company’s evolution and frames up its forward looking aspirations,”
