Grab lets Lyft users book rides in move aimed at rival Uber

SINGAPORE — Private-car hiring app Grab has sought to up the ante against its main competitor Uber by teaming up with Lyft, Uber’s main rival in the United States.

Starting today, Lyft users can book rides through the Grab app and vice versa, in a move that could help Grab capture a portion of the tourist market, said analysts.

Grab has hitherto only been available in South-east Asia, in contrast to Uber, which has an international presence. All rides will be cashless, with users paying in the currency of the country they are in.

Transport analysts interviewed said having a presence in more markets means Grab is better poised to compete with Uber, which is available in more than 66 countries and 449 cities worldwide. Before this tie-up, Grab was available in 30 cities across six South-east Asian countries.

Dr Walter Theseira, senior lecturer at SIM University, said it was “inevitable” that Grab partnered a big name like Lyft, given its limited room to expand directly into more markets.

“Having this relationship improves their competitive position with respect to Uber, in terms of being able to provide a transportation solution that looks the same and feels the same, no matter where you are in the world. Without being able to offer that in the past, I think they did have a disadvantage competing for a certain share of users,” he added.

He also noted that if firms do not want to join forces, it would be a “significant disadvantage” as the global ride-sharing market would not support more companies in the long run.

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng said Grab can overcome its inherent geographical limitations through partnerships such as these to better compete with Uber, which he called a “one-stop service”. However, he noted that passengers will still pay attention to pricing rather than convenience at the end of the day.

While this means more convenience for users, SIM University adjunct associate professor Park Byung-joon said Grab should focus on getting more drivers on board, given that business growth might be limited as most users will still be limited to Singapore or Malaysia.

“I’m also concerned that there is not enough incentive to use Grab because of this ... only frequent travellers would be more interested,” Dr Park added.

The Grab and Lyft partnership is the first in the global ride-share agreement that was announced last December between Grab, Lyft, Didi Chuxing in China and Ola in India. Details of the integrations with the other apps will be released soon.