HDT pulls plug on electric-taxi business in Singapore on 'debilitating' Covid-19 hit

It will focus on developing car-hailing, electric-bus services, electric-truck sales, as well as the leasing of EVs

Fiona Lam

Published Fri, Nov 27, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

HDT Singapore Holding, whose electric taxis had plied the city-state's roads for two years, is powering down the business for good and instead focusing on other green transportation solutions.

This was because the company has suffered a "prolonged, debilitating impact" as the coronavirus outbreak disrupted the taxi industry, said HDT, which is affiliated to Chinese EV giant BYD Co. As pandemic-related restrictions led to a sustained work-from-home trend and limited travel, the company had been "wrestling with the slowing growth" of the business since the start of 2020, it said on Friday.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has accepted HDT's application to close its taxi arm.

About 90 taxi drivers and four back-end staff were cut in the retrenchment exercise, a HDT spokesperson told The Business Times (BT). The layoffs were conducted after consultations with Singapore's National Taxi Associat…