Following its expansion to Riyadh this November, the UAE-founded car sharing startup has announced its rollout in Sharjah. Commuters in the emirate will have 200 cars at their disposal for renting by the minute, hour or day.
With this latest move, ekar has expanded its fleet to a total of 1,200 cars and plans to scale up to 10,000 vehicles in the next three years.
“More than 15,000 of our existing 100,000 active users are living in Sharjah, using ekar while in Dubai or Abu Dhabi,” said Vilhelm Hedberg, CEO of ekar Middle East. “By expanding ekar services to Sharjah we will be able to serve these users in their own neighborhoods.”
The Middle East's first car sharing app is now covering Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
The business model of the startup is based on cost-effective commuting, as the cost is significantly less than a daily commute using a ride-hailing or taxi service. For a Dubai-based customer, the fee can be as little as 60 fils per minute renting a Nissan Micra.
Due to the growing demand for a cost-effective transport service, the company plans to reach its target of 200,000 bookings as soon as next year.
Ekar is also introducing a new package for 175 AED, which includes fuel, parking, mileage, and insurance to pick up and drop off a car between Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
In Saudi Arabia, the company began operations in Riyadh with 600 cars and also plans to launch in other cities including Dammam, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, and King Abdullah Economic City.