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29 March 2024

Dubai’s Cars Taxi drives into Qatar

Published
By Waheed Abbas

Dubai-based Cars Tax, the second largest taxi fleet operator in the emirate, is set to expand its operations by driving into Qatar in the next quarter, a senior company official said.

Speaking to Emirates 24l7 in Dubai on Tuesday, Abdulla Sultan Al Sabbagh, Group Executive Director at Cars Taxi, said the company will start operations in the Gulf country in May 2014 with 300 taxis and will expand its fleet by 200 more by the end of June.

“We have completed most of the work there – the office is ready, taxis have been acquired and the staff recruitment – including drivers – is done. We’re ready for smooth start of operations in Qatar soon,” said Abdulla.

The company has operations in Singapore, Malaysia, India and Bahrain.

On Tuesday, the taxi firm signed a deal with Al-Futtaim Motors, distributor of Toyota vehicles in the UAE, for 28 hybrid Camry taxis and plans to add 50 more hybrid  taxis in its fleet of over 1,500 vehicles this year and 300 in 2015.

“We are in discussion with Al-Futtaim Motors for 50 more hybrid taxis. We intend to replace the whole fleet with hybrid cars but it will not be possible in less than 5 years,” Abdullah Sultan Al Sabbagh said, adding that apart from being environment-friendly, a hybrid taxi saves around Dh12,000 annually in maintenance and fuels.

Alan Carpenter, General Manager for Sales and Marketing at Al-Futtaim Motors, said discussions are underway with more fleet operators in Dubai and other emirates to sell environment-friendly hybrid cars.

“I’m quite positive about the outcome of the negotations,” he added.