Uber Inc Secures a New Round of $ 1.2 Billion in Financing

This reporter Zhao Na Beijing reported

"Within two years, easy-to-be-valued valuations will outpace Uber." In June 2014, Zhou Hang, the founder and CEO of Yi to 70, made a relentless remark.

At this point, US taxi application Uber Inc has just disclosed that it has obtained a new round of financing of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, with a valuation of 18.2 billion U.S. dollars. Prior to this, only Facebook had completed the financing of a higher valuation.

From the day of its establishment, easy-to-use cars do not compete with traditional car rental. Unlike traditional car rental services, all vehicles with easy-to-use car are provided with driver service. Specific service categories are built on the basis of driving service, including on-call and appointment car, reservation car again refined to pick up, delivery and half-day rent. Among them, the pick-up machine orders accounted for easy to car 30% of the total order of 40%.

In an interview with reporters, Zhou Hang emphasized: "Easy to absolutely will not be a leasing company and will not continue to do things in the" industrial age. "Zhou Hang said that this is not an easy-to-get spirit.

Easy to car is the service and platform to sell - with O2O technology to integrate existing resources rather than buy light vehicles asset-light mode, to provide users with shuttle bus service.

As of May this year, easy-to-use vehicles in the country with 50,000 vehicles, the amount of 200 million users, the average monthly frequency of active users 4-5 times. After the layout of 57 domestic cities, easy-to-use vehicles have been recently in the domestic 17 new cities to provide services and formally enter the United States market, the first station opened in San Francisco, New York, Phoenix Chinese car service for these three The city of Chinese to facilitate the travel.

Zhou Hang said that with the improvement of user service experience and platform business to increase, easy-to-use car driver's empty rate and ride prices will have room for reduction.

Zhu Yueyi, co-founder and vice president of Easy-to-use car, said in an interview with 21st Century Business Herald. Easy-to-use car will still make medium- and high-end vehicles the main business in the next three years. He hoped that in the future 1/3 taxi users and more than 40% of the traditional car rental users would become easy-to-use car users.

Internet believers

Waiting for a taxi for a long time waiting for ordinary people to enjoy the car treatment of the vision and let Zhou Hang thinking into the Internet car market.

In 2009, there were about 6,000 car rental companies registered in the country, of which only 20 leased companies had more than 300 convoys and most of the leasing companies had fewer than 50 cars. Zhou Hang decided to integrate these small and medium car rental company vehicles, using the Internet to make full use of their spare time together.

"The traditional car rental industry model is too stupid, the future will be completely get rid of." So, Zhou Hang car sharing as an entry point for entrepreneurship. This is also one of the original intention of Li Rubin, chairman of the Board of Education, when setting up a luxury car rental car.

Technology to improve the use of vehicles efficiency, Zhou Hang's original intention. In 2010, Yi to car was officially established, in the four years after its establishment, easy to use car rehearsal of about 50,000 cars.

Zhou Hang believes that in the face of the turbulent historical trend, the ultimate winner can only be a real believer in the Internet. Easy-to-use car management and incentives for drivers are also done via the Internet and the mobile Internet.

"We do not think it is as strong as relying solely on the management of drivers or people," added Zhu Yueyi, "hoping to personalize every service on a standardized basis with tools."

Easy-to-use vehicles When selecting drivers, they are mainly selected from the perspectives of drivers' age, education level and previous occupation, and corresponding training is conducted. On the basis of standardized training, the concept of big data and platform tools to manage and motivate, and in order to ensure the matching of users.

As of May this year, easy-to-use vehicles in the country with 50,000 vehicles, the amount of 2 million users.

"This number of users is not a particularly large number from an Internet perspective, but we can see that on average, each active user can average 4-5 orders a month, that is, basically every Week will be using an easy-to-car service. "Zhu Yueyi said active users, refers to the use of easy-to-use car service in the month.

In improving the driver and user matching at the same time, easy to car through the systematic configuration to improve vehicle use efficiency and user ride efficiency.

Traffic peak every morning and evening, challenging the carrying capacity of public transport, easy to use car is also constantly exploring how to allow users to also get convenient car service during this time.

"Some time ago easy to car a certain number of cars every day, including the International Trade, Financial Street, Liuliqiao and other places is not easy to take a taxi." Easy to car for more than a year the driver Wang master told reporters, Easy to car every month to provide these drivers with 8,000 yuan subsidy.

According to Master Wang introduction, easy to use the car has two sets of driver evaluation system, one set by the user evaluation, the other set by the order type given evaluation. In order to encourage drivers to provide on-call service, it is easy to use a car to provide a higher reward to the driver who provides the service.

Local cooperation

Starting from 2014, Easy-to-use Vehicles began to work with OEMs to expand their vehicle sources.

In January of this year, Zhou Hang and Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Automobile, met at the forum of Geek Park.

In his speech, Li Shubu proposed himself as a geek in the automobile industry. The car was "four wheels + a battery + a computer," which made Zhou Hang, another guest at the scene, resound. "There are people who can talk to us on one channel, which makes us feel very excited." Zhou Hang memories.

In the latter part of the contact process, easy to find the car Volvo has a lot of IT background staff. With further deepening of understanding, the entire cooperation was reached promptly in two to three months.

For Volvo, easy-to-use car cooperation is a new way to promote and market.

"This time cross-border cooperation, channel development more meaningful, and this channel expansion itself, the channel function has gone beyond the traditional 4S shop." Volvo Car Sales Manager Liu Yan, vice president of sales and marketing in the easy Car to the conference, so evaluation of Volvo and easy to use car between the cooperation. She said that in addition to being able to share the car's traditional 4S shop "test car - car" function, but also allows users to communicate with the user (that is, easy to use the driver) to understand the product, and at the same time Travel services.

"There is a leasing company in the middle of Yi and Volvo, the rental company will buy the Volvo vehicles, and then to the easy to car operation." Zhu Yue Yi introduced Easy to use car and Volvo does not exist between the sale and purchase, but the rental company does Vehicles can be purchased from Volvo for a very favorable price because of the easy-to-use car and Volvo's cooperation.

Disclosure in cooperation with Volvo, a number of car manufacturers take the initiative to find easy to use car to explore the possibility of cooperation. Zhu Yue Yi revealed that the future does not rule out the car manufacturers will be 4S shop part of the vehicle on the easy-to-use car platform for operation, to provide users with free driving and car experience.

In addition to Volvo, easy-to-use vehicles and Guangzhou Automobile Group ("Guangzhou Automobile") cooperation has also been in full swing.

In March, YiZhuan Automobile announced the cooperation with GAC, focusing on the docking of the two existing resources. GAC Group will come up with the easy access to the platform for the access of Guangzhou GAC lease company. The purpose of GAC is to broaden leasing channels by integrating its offline leasing resources with an easy-to-use online platform which is mainly used to supplement vehicles in Guangzhou and Shenzhen cities , In order to open the Pearl River Delta market.

Easy to use the car has basically covered a second-tier cities and some three-tier tourist cities. As of the end of May 2014, easy-to-use vehicles operated in 57 cities nationwide and 17 new cities were opened by the end of June. "This year we plan to open to 100 cities." Zhu Yue Yi revealed.

Overseas move

After the completion of a large-scale layout in China, it is easy to go to the car by car.

In fact, as early as 2012 London Olympic Games, easy to car was briefly opened in London car service, after two months of trying to move the model of China to abroad, the idea was confirmed; in 2013, easy to car Second attempt to open the car service in the non-Mainland market, this time the destination selected in Hong Kong.

"Easy-to-use car service in Hong Kong is typical to meet the Mainland guests playing in the past, or car travel during the business needs." Zhu Yue Yi introduced that despite the trial did not conduct marketing and publicity, and now in Hong Kong, there are still 10 -20 times car service occurred.

Successful attempts in London and Hong Kong culminated in the decision to enter the U.S. market in 2014.

July 1, easy to car announced the entry into the United States market, the first station opened in San Francisco, New York and Phoenix City - three cities are located in the western, eastern and central South America, the number of vehicles in each city is 20 -30 units.

For the first time, an easy-to-use car with service of a car officially opened in a foreign market will position the user as a car demand for Chinese tourists and Chinese.

In the United States, easy to car choose almost exactly the same with the domestic operating mode: the integration of small and medium-sized rental business, supported by belt drive service. "Car rental services provided with drivers are the normal business abroad, they usually work with some domestic travel agencies and business tours, and we are bringing them together." Zhu Yueyi said.

Easy-to-use car in the United States market will be the early operation of the airport shuttle service, accompanied by discourse to accompany Chinese services, to provide visitors with local guidance for travel. The latter will gradually add new features, with the United States tourism and business complex needs.

Easy to use car in the overseas operation of the choice will also take into account the size of the Chinese car demand, can find enough car source factors. In order to share the Uber with the United States, easy-to-easy price positioning will be slightly lower than Uber. At the same time, drawing on the experience of Uber being widely resisted by the taxi industry in Europe, it is easy to get into the car as one of the factors to consider whether the taxi demand of the local taxi is fully satisfied.

Although easy-to-use cars look a lot like Uber, Zhou Hang does not like comparing easy-to-use cars to Uber, and Uber's valuation continues to rise, adding confidence to easy-to-use vehicles. In December 2013, EasyTech completed a Series C round of financing and obtained a USD 60 million investment led by Ctrip and DCM. Ctrip's injection of funds, will undoubtedly increase the ease of overseas expansion of vehicles.

After easy-to-use vehicles were announced to enter the U.S. market, car rental companies in New Zealand and Australia found an easy-to-use car right away, all of which had large local travel agencies and were fully capable of carrying vehicles. According to the official car-to-car disclosure, after opening car services in San Francisco, New York and Phoenix, the company will continue expansion of other U.S. cities in the third quarter of this year and plan to cover the Americas within six months , 20 cities in Europe and Asia Pacific.

"Overseas business We do not want to step too big, after all, domestic business is also growing, and our main energy is certainly still in the country." For the future, Zhu Yue said.