Indian self-drive car rental platform ZoomCar ceases operations in Vietnam

The notification was sent to vehicle owners and partners on the afternoon of May 23. The company cited general market conditions and specific difficulties in the self-drive car rental sector – which are expected to continue to be complex – as the reasons for this decision.

Kiet Pham, CEO of ZoomCar Vietnam, confirmed this information to Vnexpress but did not provide further comment. In the announcement, ZoomCar expressed its commitment to fulfill its obligations to all customers, vehicle owners, and suppliers over the coming period.

Regarding vehicle owners, ZoomCar stated that it would fulfill payment obligations for trips as usual until June 30. Its technical team will contact each vehicle owner to arrange the retrieval of the company's installed devices from the vehicles. As for ZoomCar's suppliers, the company stated that it would reach out to each party to coordinate specific plans.

Established in 2013 with its headquarters in Bangalore, India, ZoomCar has deployed its services in 31 cities in India, Indonesia, Egypt, and Vietnam, and the platform began providing its services in Ho Chi Minh City in early 2022. The cars on the platform are provided by vehicle owners through commission-based contracts for each booking.

ZoomCar had plans to invest $25 million in the Vietnamese market, with $8 million allocated for the first fiscal year. Initially, the platform entered the market by heavily discounting prices, offering significant discounts to customers, and giving generous rewards to vehicle owners.

As a result, after the first four months of operation, they had around 1,000 vehicles on their platform.

In addition to discounts, during the initial phase, ZoomCar offered free doorstep delivery to customers without requiring a deposit or retaining physical copies of personal documents.

To entice vehicle owners to join the platform, they offered weekly and monthly bonuses based on the number of bookings and hours the vehicle was made available for rent. The company also directly purchased comprehensive vehicle insurance for vehicle owners.

However, these favourable policies gradually decreased after the initial phase. ZoomCar ceased offering free doorstep delivery and fees were introduced, but this service was reinstated only two weeks before the company's discontinuation of operations in Vietnam.

Instead of operating 24/7, the customer service hotline was only available until 8pm daily. Customers received fewer promotions, and vehicle owners had to voluntarily purchase comprehensive vehicle insurance that would be reimbursed by the company on a monthly basis if they met the prescribed requirements.

IPP Group's eDiGi shuts down eDiGi, a high-end smartphone retailer in Vietnam which exclusively offered Apple's wide range of products, ceased operations on May 17.