VietNamNet Bridge - After the departure of Uber, the battle in the ride hailing market has heated up with the participation of many newcomers.

Joining the market, FastGo and Go-Viet applied two major tactics – offering ‘next-to-nothing fee’ and using the motto ‘Vietnamese use Vietnamese apps’. 

Go-Viet bears the management hallmark of Go-Jek and its Malaysian origin, but the brand still tries to win Vietnamese hearts by saying ‘buy Vietnamese’. 

Meanwhile, its promotion campaign under which passengers only paid VND5,000 for trips less than 8 kilometers, caught special attention from the public.

The marketing formula proved to be effective. Nadiem Makarim, CEO of Go-Jek, said that Go-Viet has 35 percent of the motorbike hailing market share in HCM City, and the app has got 1.5 million downloads after six weeks of launching.

Meanwhile, the figure has raised doubts among analysts who commented that the figure is unbelievably high, and this could be just a ‘skill’ used by the brand to attract more drivers and investments.

FastGo, belonging to NextTech Group of Technopreneurs, has also been making every effort to attract customers. 

By introducing its partner, the new strategic investor VinaCapital Ventures, FastGo wants to position itself as an e-hailing app developed by Vietnamese and supported by well-known financier.

While newcomers are running sale promotion campaigns, Grab is silently showing the firm stuff of a ‘giant’. While its rivals declare they have gained large market share and shown figures, Grab has not provided any figure, but affirms its market share is stable.

The app which dislodged Uber from Southeast Asia is carrying out community activities, upgrading services and running programs to increase customer experience on a technology platform that allows customers to use many types of services.

While its rivals state they have attracted thousands of drivers, Grab continues tightening management to heighten service quality. It permanently locks accounts of partners violating Grab's code of conduct to ensure the safety of users.

While other apps do not care if their drivers serve 2-3 apps at the same time, Grab requests its drivers to use Grab only to ensure supply and service quality.

FastGo, after three months of operation, announced that it has 15,000 drivers and 50,000 registered customers in Hanoi and HCM City.

According to the General Department of Taxation (GDT), by October 2017, Grab had taken a loss in Vietnam. The company with VND20 billion in legal capital had incurred a loss of VND1 billion.

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