SelfDrive.in, the Pune-based online self-drive cab operator, has announced its foray into the UAE, making it the first Indian self drive car rental company to kickstart international operations.
Pinewood Service Corporation, the holding company of Selfdrive.in has acquired license to start operations in the Middle Eastern country, and in the first phase of the launch will roll out 1500 vehicles in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah. All the locations will go live with operations in one go from January 2018.
The share of car rental in UAE is the second largest within the entire car rental market in Middle East region. And with an increase in the enterprises across UAE, the demand for self-drive car rental and leasing has pushed the market in UAE to Dh 950 Million in 2015.
Announcing the move, Soham Shah, Founder & Director, Pinewood Service Corporation, said, “We have started with an initial investment of 5 million Dirhams to roll out our first phase. We are looking to raise an additional 10 million Dirhams to fund our second phase as early as March 2018. We are confident of revenues in excess of 30 million dirhams in our first year of operations inthe UAE.”
The second phase of the launch will witness a roll out of another 1500 cars (in Q3 2017-18) in the neighboring countries in the Middle East, the company said.
