Thread: Holden axed in Aussie.

Originally Posted by Tote

Very little sympathy for the Taxi industry, their monopoly got them what they deserved. I remember waiting three hours for a taxi on a Friday night in Canberra with repeated calls to the taxi company ignored. Similarly booking cabs for pickups that simply never arrived. I got in a taxi at Sydney airport to go locally to my accomodation in April last year after my flight was delated by a day and got abuse from the cabbie because the fare was too small, so not much has changed. Ubers don't usually smell like ass either.


Regards,
Tote

I agree 1000000% with ALL of that.

Most folk don't understand what was the Taxi industry. Including most of the drivers. I'm happy to talk about the booking systems, the pre-booked calls, the number of people taking calls, the more recent system that recognises your phone number and sends a cab to your last known, and specifically the rules about ranks, especially airport ranks. But that could go on for days and none of us want that. I will say this though. The fastest money a taxi could make was the flagfall. Any driver who didn't understand that was an idiot, so I guess that's most of them. The industry, to give it airs, is about 80 years out of date. Uber kills it, and so will Lyft if it comes here. Uber now needs competition. Even a smart guy with a few bucks and an app could work.

I want to tell a story, one that hopefully illustrates the state of cabs. This was around 20 years ago.

It was a Sunday, which could be good or bad for a driver, depending. This is Melbourne. About 10:30. I'm sitting on the Peel St Rank ( Outside the Queen Vic Market ), having had a decent morning. I'm the only car on the rank. Then a cab pulls in behind me. A very well dressed woman got out of this not so well dressed car. She grabs her case out of the boot ( no help offered from the driver ), slams the door, kicks it, and stomps down to my car: She yells at me " Do you know where ****ing South Yarra is??". I say, of course I do, it's like the third suburb of Melbourne ever. She yells " well HE ****ing doesn't!!!!".

20 years ago::: Now it's way worse. Any wonder nobody trusts cabs in cities?

Originally Posted by johntins

Mike, 202 was a Holden engine number... It was a little jest on my part...

Oh those leaky knocking motors

Originally Posted by Tombie

Oh those leaky knocking motors

You're older than I thought..

Didn't mind the 186 though. Then I grew up and got an MG, with the B Series...

Uber is a classic built it and flog it tech business. Find a way around the existing regulations. Exploit the loop hole to make investors money. This will be at the expense of those who are doing the work. Wrap it up as innovation for public consumption. Is a well tried and proven tech business plan so nothing ground breaking there.

Does not make a profit which is always going to happen next year. Fancy power point slides to lure in more investors who will all make a fat margin when sell to market. Market will tell investors who are going to buy to ignore losses as will be profitable tomorrow. Market takes their slice of sale price buyer beware

If they can find will buyers to take it on those who invested before sale take home the cash. It is the new owners who are left with an unprofitable and debt laden business that they either figure out how to make profitable or lose their shirts.

Most taxi companies have the same app technology as Uber so that advantage is now gone. Uber has market recognition. Have seen people attempting to use the app in places Uber does not operate

In UK taxi market has seen Uber take business. Has been people looking for extra cash who have taken it up not taxi drivers (generalisation). Problem is the high turnover of drivers as there is not enough in it for the driver after costs which they find higher than what is suggested in the marketing. Also there is no limit on the number of drivers and Uber will sign up anyone who asks. They make money from the total fares not being impacted by individual driver income. So enough fares can be difficult to pick up due to other drivers being closer

An Uber driver should not be driving a car which is under finance as the finance contract will say for private use or travel to a place of work. One if the lessons drivers learn is how high the depreciation curve is on a car that is driven taxi mileage.

A number of finance companies have attempted to put together funding packages for Uber drivers. All have withdrawn - Even Ubers own effort- as the bad debt levels are too high.

Then government had noticed the increase in traffic due to these cars circling around the block in places they think will have work which adds to air pollution and congestion

Originally Posted by 3toes

Uber is a classic built it and flog it tech business. Find a way around the existing regulations. Exploit the loop hole to make investors money. This will be at the expense of those who are doing the work. Wrap it up as innovation for public consumption. Is a well tried and proven tech business plan so nothing ground breaking there.

Does not make a profit which is always going to happen next year. Fancy power point slides to lure in more investors who will all make a fat margin when sell to market. Market will tell investors who are going to buy to ignore losses as will be profitable tomorrow. Market takes their slice of sale price buyer beware

If they can find will buyers to take it on those who invested before sale take home the cash. It is the new owners who are left with an unprofitable and debt laden business that they either figure out how to make profitable or lose their shirts.

Most taxi companies have the same app technology as Uber so that advantage is now gone. Uber has market recognition. Have seen people attempting to use the app in places Uber does not operate

In UK taxi market has seen Uber take business. Has been people looking for extra cash who have taken it up not taxi drivers (generalisation). Problem is the high turnover of drivers as there is not enough in it for the driver after costs which they find higher than what is suggested in the marketing. Also there is no limit on the number of drivers and Uber will sign up anyone who asks. They make money from the total fares not being impacted by individual driver income. So enough fares can be difficult to pick up due to other drivers being closer

An Uber driver should not be driving a car which is under finance as the finance contract will say for private use or travel to a place of work. One if the lessons drivers learn is how high the depreciation curve is on a car that is driven taxi mileage.

A number of finance companies have attempted to put together funding packages for Uber drivers. All have withdrawn - Even Ubers own effort- as the bad debt levels are too high.

Then government had noticed the increase in traffic due to these cars circling around the block in places they think will have work which adds to air pollution and congestion

It's difficult to compare the UK market with anywhere else. You guys screwed the typical London Cabbie, with his "knowledge" and all, by allowing minicabs. London had something absolutely unique, and now it's gone, and for what? That ain't Ubers fault ( I'm not a fan of Uber, but I CAN see the attraction for a driver ), it's the market. I'd take an Uber in London long before I'd take a minicab. I'd take a black cab over both of them, but their days are sadly numbered, and that is the fault of the minicab, not Uber. Well, that's how I see it.

I could tell some stories about Thai taxis, but we're way off topic here already.

To sort of get back on topic, many taxis were Holdens, but now Camry hybrids have taken over, because they are said to be cheaper to run, at least for short distances, than cars on gas.

Pickles I was in The Oz Embassy in Thailand at the time.
We had a locally assembled Camira wagon 2 litre in the Embassy fleet ( also an Oz Falcon).
I was giving solace to Holden execs as part of my job.

They gave up very quickly as they could not get local components of sufficient quality and those they did get assembled did not sell.
This was late 80s. So I think the motor was a 2 litre version of the Nissan engine.
Regards PhilipA

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

I could tell some stories about Thai taxis, but we're way off topic here already.

To sort of get back on topic, many taxis were Holdens, but now Camry hybrids have taken over, because they are said to be cheaper to run, at least for short distances, than cars on gas.

They do seem to be from my experience. Have driven Hybrid Camrys in 2 occasions for a week at a time around cities for work and both times have averaged just on 6 LP100KM, which I was pretty impressed by. Nice car to drive too, I also drive one each time the Hilux gets serviced as the Service Manager gives me his vehicle for the day.