Meru Cab Co to buy 3,000 new cars in FY2014-15

Meru Cab Co, the leading radio cab service provider in India, along with its associates (which includes Genie cabs, Meru Plus and others) plans to buy nearly 3,000 new passenger cars during FY 2014-15. While premium hatchbacks and mid-sized sedans will dominate the lot, the firm plans to acquire the vehicles via a portfolio of institutional purchases across OEMs such as Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, Ford India and others.

On the sidelines of the launch of Genie cab service in Pune today, Siddhartha Pahwa, group CEO, Genie & Meru Cabs, told Autocar Professional that “as a part of our expanding fleet, we plan to buy nearly 3,000 passenger cars during the next financial year. The purchase will range across the hatchbacks to sedans and will be CNG variants (for Mumbai, Delhi) and diesel options (for other cities). We have recently bought 100 cars exclusively to launch our pocket-friendly Genie cab service in Pune. Of these, mostly are Ford Figos while the remaining are Tata Motors’ Indicas (with Quadrajet engine).”

While Pahwa did not disclose the finances earmarked for the massive buyout next fiscal, he did mention that an average cost of Rs 6 lakh per car can be safely assumed to calculate the total investments planned by the company. The company, which has institutional tie-ups with several car OEMs, currently has a fleet of 7,000 cars plying in various cities. The firm buys and operates mid-sized sedans and hatchbacks under the Meru and the Genie brands respectively.

Photograph: Siddhartha Pahwa, group CEO, Genie & Meru Cabs, at the launch of the Genie cab service in Pune.