Uti announced on the 29th that it is rebranding its taxi calling platform from ‘Uti’ to ‘Uber Taxi’ to provide a better integrated mobility experience for domestic and international users.
With this rebranding, the brand name is unified with the global mobility platform Uber, allowing the increase in foreign tourists visiting Korea post-COVID to use the Uber app they are familiar with from abroad without needing to switch to a different app. This contributes to the activation of tourism and provides a comfortable travel experience for business clients during their trips.
Domestic users will also be able to use the same app abroad to access Uber’s vehicle calling service in those regions.
The newly changed platform name, Uber Taxi, aligns with the name used in markets such as Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan where Uber provides taxi-calling services, symbolizing an enhanced connection with Uber on a global scale. Uti plans to ensure that this rebranding is not just a name change but also a stepping stone for differentiated mobility services.
Since its launch, Uti has continuously introduced new features in the past two years, including improved passenger safety features and eco-friendly electric vehicle calling services (Green). After the rebranding, Uber Taxi aims to develop more differentiated points to ensure that users experience quick and convenient taxi rides anywhere in the country.
Uti CEO Song Jin-woo stated, “Since the official launch in 2021, Uti has focused on providing differentiated mobility services to both drivers and passengers. This rebranding is also part of our efforts to offer a better integrated mobility experience to domestic and international users and drivers,” and added, “We will continuously contribute to the innovation of the Korean mobility market by leveraging the know-how accumulated by Uber, which operates in 72 countries around the world, and the synergy with Tmap Mobility, a domestic mobility super app.”
As part of the rebranding, the existing app will automatically update to the ‘Uber Taxi’ app starting in early March, and the branding of affiliated taxis across the nation will gradually be changed to feature the ‘Uber Taxi’ logo. The corporate name ‘Uti’ will remain unchanged.
A fare discount event for new users will also be implemented. New users registering on the Uber Taxi app will receive a 30% discount coupon for taxi fares (up to 50 times, maximum of 10,000 won per ride), which can be applied by entering ‘UBERTAXIBACK’ in the ‘Account – Wallet/Payment – Add Promotion Code’ menu when calling a taxi with automatic payment. The discount period is from March 1 to 31.
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr