SINGAPORE - Mr Cheng Siak Kian, who assumed the helm of home-grown transport giant ComfortDelGro, is not overly unsettled by ride-hailing firm Grab’s proposed takeover of Trans-Cab – Singapore’s third-largest taxi operator.

“Our taxi rental rates are not lower than Trans-Cab’s. If our hirers had wanted to go over, they would have gone over by now,” Mr Cheng said. “And it is not as if our drivers cannot use the Grab app. They can.”

Mr Cheng, who took over from veteran Yang Ban Seng as chief executive in January, said ComfortDelGro had no intention of bowing out of the taxi business like a number of others that have done so since the arrival of ride-hailing firms 10 years ago.

In fact, the group does not rule out acquiring other companies. “If others want to sell at a good price, we’re open to buying,” he said.

He said the fact that ComfortDelGro was still the leading taxi firm in Singapore, with 63 per cent of the market, or 8,782 taxis, as at end-June, showed that it was holding its own.

But it is no longer “a pure taxi company”. It has a small but growing private-hire fleet of around 600 cars, and its Zig ride-hailing app is becoming accepted, with around 4,000 private-hire drivers using the platform.

Mr Cheng revealed that the group was also working on getting other point-to-point transport operators to use its Zig app.

“We’re co-existing with the disruptors,” he said, referring to the ride-hailing firms. “Going forward, we’re going to co-exist with them more.”

He pointed out that taxi drivers were far more serious in their jobs – meaning that cabbies catered to more rides per day, and that taxis were still being hired out on two shifts.

This translates to higher revenue yield for the group, which introduced a fare commission system in 2022.

Commissions range from 5 per cent to 10 per cent of total fares.

Together with its private-hire fleet, ComfortDelGro drivers complete 80,000 to 90,000 trips per day.

“We will continue to have our day in the sun,” Mr Cheng said.

Despite ComfortDelGro’s share price hitting an all-time low of $1.01 in early June before recovering to close at $1.27 on Monday, the new CEO is upbeat about the business in the future.

“We’re recession-proof,” he said. “And we’re reliable in our dividend payout.”

At the group’s first-half financial results briefing on Monday, Mr Cheng outlined a group strategy consisting of defending core businesses and venturing into new ones.

“We will continue to improve customer service, which will help us to win new operating tenders,” he said. “We will find new partners in key markets to pursue rail and bus contracts overseas.”

Among the new businesses, ComfortDelGro is looking to fleet electrification – or switching to electric vehicles (EVs).

About 60 per cent of its taxis in China are already electric, and its electric bus fleet in Britain of around 170 was already the largest in Europe.

Mr Cheng said this will grow to 213 buses by the year end.

He said electrification translates to lower costs, as EVs require far less maintenance and electricity costs less than petrol or diesel.

“We also get rebates from governments, and we are able to charge higher rentals for electric taxis,” he added.

The company is looking to grow its EV-charging business, and has been expanding its network with French utility group Engie.

The group is also building up an “EV as a service” business, which will offer “charging, leasing and fleet management of electric commercial vehicles”.

Separately, Mr Cheng said ComfortDelGro was looking to start its first autonomous taxi trial soon.