Hyundai is interested in attracting Uber drivers into its brand new Ioniq, on the back of Toyota’s increasing dominance among drivers of the ride-sharing app.
Toyota offers lease deals on its cars for Uber drivers, particularly the hybrid Prius, and also invested money into Uber. While speaking with the media recently, Hyundai’s eco-car boss Ki Sang Lee told Autocar that it could follow a similar route.
“We have certainly been looking into it,” he said. “The trouble is that Europe is such a complicated mix of different legislations, so it takes time to assess each and come up with a plan. Even so, we have definitely been looking into Uber and whether we can offer some sort of incentive.”
A key point of difference between the Ioniq and the Prius is that the former is available in full-electric guise. Sang Lee pinpointed this as a key selling point for Uber drivers, particularly in cities with established charging infrastructure.
“Toyota is well established in the UK and much of Europe when it comes to taxi services, we realise that. However, we think that by offering something slightly different we could benefit. For instance, using our pure-EV Ioniq in cities as taxis instead of the HEV – Toyota doesn’t currently offer a pure-EV Prius,” he said.
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