Mayflower-GoCar Mobility car sharing service

TRAVEL and car rental company, Mayflower Acme Tours Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Warisan TC Holdings Berhad, announced the acquisition of a majority stake in technology start‐up GoCar Mobility Sdn Bhd, a car sharing service which provides an affordable short‐term transportation solution.
This new acquisition is part of Mayflower’s strategy to expand its presence in the mobility market, search for new mobility solution opportunities, and to allow Mayflower to strengthen its leadership in the car service/livery business.
About GoCar
Founded in March 2015, GoCar is a startup that allows members to rent cars by the hour or day, through a self‐service platform via a website or mobile app. Since its launch, GoCar has received over 5,000 hours of bookings for its cars located in Cyberjaya, Mont Kiara, Mid Valley, and Bangsar.
In addition to the acquisition, GoCar has been awarded the CIP 500 grant by Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd. The grant, which has the value of RM 500,000, will enable the car sharing service to further expand into new markets, scale the team, and boost its marketing reach.
What is next?
TJ Tan, Executive Director of GoCar added: “By joining the Tan Chong family, we will significantly scale our fleet, allowing us to expand to other regions in Malaysia seamlessly, as well as leveraging existing Mayflower’s airport and retail counters. Mayflower’s wealth of experience in this industry will bode well for GoCar, enabling us to build on Mayflower’s past learnings.”
Mayflower sees growth opportunity in this combined venture. It represents greater utilisation of its fleets, cost reduction to operations, and significant efficiency optimisation.
Nicholas Tan, head of Tan Chong Financial Services added: “Mobility is such an important part of our lives these days and today’s investment is our commitment to continually improve our offering to society. We see GoCar as an evolution of our traditional car rental model.
"The competitive moat around traditional car rental is evaporating. The ‘counter’ is being supplanted by lines of code, new cultures, and mega fleet managers, requiring new skills (and pricing) that shake the rental market over time. With new technologies that GoCar has in its arsenal, we are trying to reach out to new markets, and offer crowd‐sourcing mobility to our corporate and retail customers.”
Following the acquisition, GoCar will operate as a subsidiary of Mayflower and will continue to operate under its own name and brand. Key members of the GoCar management team, including Executive Director, TJ Tan will continue to set the overall direction and run the day‐to‐day operations.
"Globally, car sharing is growing. We are careful to ensure that each of these brands has a unique vision, product range, and way of communicating. Even though both GoCar and Mayflower brands are part of our group, we don't hold back in allowing each brand to develop what is right for its customers and right for the founding partners." said Nicholas Tan.
About Mayflower
Established since 1969, Mayflower is the leading total travel service specialist in Malaysia. With a staff force of more than 500, over 3,000 vehicles of different makes and models, a network of 19 offices and branches, including four airport counters, throughout Malaysia.