Uber日本将日产新Elgrand导入Uber Premium高端叫车服务

TOKYO -- Uber Technologies said Monday it will bring Nissan Motor's Elgrand luxury minivan to its ride-hailing operations in Japan, including both regulated taxi offerings and chauffeured-car services, which are growing to capture constant corporate demand.
"With the growing use of car-hire services that employ premium minivans, there's been increased interest from operators in introducing the new Elgrand," said Kumiko Imai Ihara, director of communication at Uber Japan. The popularity of large minivans like Toyota Motor's Alphard among ride-hailing companies had led to long waits for delivery.
Uber is focusing on chauffeured cars in Japan because of the country's strict regulations on ride-hailing. While the company uses regular drivers in the U.S., it operates in Japan mainly through taxi services, for which fares are regulated by the government.
Hinomaru Limousine and IBI Group will operate the Elgrands, which will be available through Uber Premium, a tier featuring luxury vehicles and experienced drivers. Nissan will initially deliver 30 of the minivans, with the figure expected to eventually grow into the hundreds as other Uber partners adopt them.
Rather than a taxi service, Uber Premium is instead considered a travel product using chauffeured vehicles. Prices can be set freely, rather than with meters, and fluctuate depending on time, distance, road conditions and expected supply and demand.
The high added value of the service makes it easier to raise prices compared with metered fares. When demand is low, prices can be set lower than taxi fares to draw passengers.
Competition in the ride-hailing app market from players such as Go and Sony-affiliated S.Ride make it difficult to raise fees. "Ride-sharing still faces high hurdles in Japan," Uber Japan's Imai said. "Penetration of ride-hailing apps is also lower than in Europe or the U.S., so we're focusing on that because we see room to expand."
Though demand is growing, there is little room in the field for companies to differentiate themselves, putting more focus on how to leverage luxury cars for high fares without being constrained by the fare restrictions on taxis.
With car-hire services, Uber aims to cater not only to Japan's growing numbers of foreign tourists, but also to corporate customers, a source of steady demand.
Uber envisions its Premium service being used to transport executives and clients, as well as for group business travel. Because it is available on demand, it can reduce fixed travel costs compared with using company cars or dedicated drivers, or signing contracts with chauffeured-car operators.
Competitors are also looking to draw corporate customers with luxury rides. Go is expanding its premium tier, which uses metered fares with an additional fee of as much as 50%. Go Premium saw four times as many ride requests between February and July as in the same period of 2022.
Nissan's arrangement with Uber -- the first step in a partnership announced in May -- will also benefit the automaker, which hopes that providing the minivan to car-hire services will help promote it to consumers.
In July Nissan rolled out its first full redesign in 16 years -- a period during which Toyota's Alphard came to dominate Japan's luxury minivan market. In fiscal 2025, Nissan sold just 1,163 Elgrands, compared with the Alphard's 81,357 units.
"Corporations are important customers for premium minivans," said Akira Sugimoto, who heads domestic sales and marketing for Nissan. "We want to tap into their need for leisurely travel."
With the Uber partnership, Nissan hopes to make a comeback among businesses along with individual customers.
The two companies are also teaming up with British startup Wayve Technologies to launch a robotaxi trial in Tokyo later this year. Though this will use Nissan's Leaf electric vehicle, there are plans to add hands-free driving to the Elgrand as early as fiscal 2027.