Learn Chinese - Luxury cabs to drop last flags

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Luxury cabs to drop last flags
By Dong Zhen (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-01 10:50





Mercedes-Benz taxis from Dazhong.[Photo by city520.com]


The days of flagging down a luxury ride on Shanghai's streets may soon be
over.

Mercedes-Benz taxis are about to disappear, several cabbies told Shanghai
Daily.

The Dazhong transport company, which operates the city's 100 Mercedes
cabs, will remove them from service as early as this month, the drivers
said. Dazhong would not confirm the action yesterday.

Dazhong cabbies, however, said the brakes were already squealing.

"The first 45 Mercedes cabs stopped running last month, and we heard that
all the cars would be removed from service by the end of August," said a
Dazhong Mercedes cabby surnamed Gao.

Dazhong, the city's biggest taxi operator, introduced the first 50
Mercedes E200s to its fleet in early 2004 and added another 50 in May
2005, hoping to cash in on their upscale allure. But taxi firms have been
forced by a newly enacted government policy to lower rental fees for
drivers after a surge in fuel prices.

But while the fee cabbies pay for regular taxis was capped at 9,500 yuan
(US$1,187) a month, the Mercedes rent for much higher at 16,500 yuan,
according to Gao.

Also, because the luxury cars are more expensive to fuel and repair,
their daily operating costs are much higher than an ordinary cab.

Despite the greater expenses, the meter rate for all city cabs is the
same.

While the break-even income for a Volkswagen cab might be about 550 yuan
a day, a Mercedes driver must earn about 200 yuan more to avoid losing
money.

The cost crunch has caused many Mercedes drivers to give up on street
fares and concentrate on business from long-term clients, one driver said.

"We sometimes don't pick clients who only want short-distance in-town
rides because the operation cost for a Mercedes is too high," said
another Dazhong Mercedes cabbie surnamed Ma.

"While some Mercedes cabbies can earn up to 10,000 yuan a month, others
who fail to work out a good business plan can get only about 1,000 yuan a
month," Ma said.

Two other cab drivers also confirmed the change.
















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