Grab responds when pointed out to be at a disadvantage against electric vehicles; What about Be Group and Vinasun?

(Dan Tri) - Regarding the report about Xanh SM surpassing its market share, Grab Vietnam said it had sent a document to the reporting unit. Be Group, Vinasun... also spoke up.

According to the latest report published by Mordor Intelligence - a market research unit - in the first quarter of this year, this unit said that Xanh SM's market share under GSM reached 39.85% - surpassing Grab (35.57%) to become the leading "player" in the taxi market in Vietnam. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the report published by the above unit also showed a similar result, that Grab's taxi segment was surpassed by Xanh SM.

On September 4, Grab Vietnam's media representative suddenly issued a statement responding to the passenger taxi market research reports published by Mordor Intelligence in the fourth quarter of 2024, the first quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2025.

Grab Vietnam said they have never discussed or provided any business information, transaction data and market assessments with Mordor Intelligence or any third party. Over the past few months, they have been in direct communication with Mordor Intelligence to further understand and clarify the source data and survey methods used.

Grab pointed out that the reports were mainly based on assumptions and estimates of the total transaction value (GMV) of taxi companies, from which GMV assumptions of the passenger taxi business segment alone, GMV assumptions of each 2-wheel and 4-wheel service segment separately... without verifiable or reliable data sources.

Those assumptions and estimates are also based on information from some former employees of the firms, gathered through online interviews, suggesting that market information and data are likely outdated.

The unit stated that there is reason to believe that reports on the Vietnamese passenger taxi market published by Mordor Intelligence used unverified data sources and inadequate research methods, leading to incorrect conclusions.

"This has led to the risk of confusing consumers, sending incorrect signals to the market and possibly leading stakeholders to follow ineffective business directions," Grab Vietnam concluded.

The platform said it has sent a formal legal letter to Mordor Intelligence, asking them to withdraw the above reports to re-evaluate and improve their methodology, and to support their conclusions with reliable, verifiable market information and data sources.

Modor Intelligence's first quarter 2025 taxi market share report (Photo: Screenshot).

What do the other parties say?

Technology cars are one of the hottest growing markets in Vietnam, including big players such as Grab, Be Group, Xanh SM. In a recent move, while Gojek withdrew from the market, earlier this year, the technology car-hailing industry was stirred up when "newcomer" Bolt showed many moves ready to enter Vietnam.

A representative of a "rookie" car company said they worked with Modor Intelligence, but they did not know the specific methods of the reporting party.

On the other hand, traditional taxi company Vinasun said that it has never worked with and has never provided any data to Modor Intelligence.

Sharing the same view, a representative of Be Group also confirmed to Dan Tri reporter that the company has never worked with and has never provided any data with Modor Intelligence.

“We respect independent research, but do not share GMV or sensitive business data with any market research organization without a strict confidentiality agreement. With Mordor Intelligence, Be did not cooperate in providing data for the reports in question; all Be-related numbers are estimates by the research unit,” the representative of this unit said.

This person also added that Be Group does not comment on disputes between third parties. The company's consistent view is that any market share comparison must be consistent in scope and measurement methods, for example, 2-wheel/4-wheel; connection platform compared to fleet operator; GMV, number of trips, active users; B2C/B2B... Relying on assumptions from unverifiable sources can easily lead to misleading conclusions due to the diverse and complex nature of products.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/grab-phan-phao-khi-bi-neu-that-the-truoc-xe-dien-be-group-vinasun-ra-sao-20250904161448030.htm