The upstart ride-hailing service Gett is getting up in Uber’s grill in New York City, arguably the most competitive market in the United States for both drivers and passengers.
The Israel-based company, which already has a strong presence in Europe, is out this week with a series of hard-hitting ads on subway cars and bus shelters.
“Uber hates us because we’re surge-free. And probably because we’re beautiful,” reads one of the ads, written in all caps in black over a yellow background, Gett’s trademark colors.
Another add reads: “Swipe left on surge pricing.”
Surge-pricing, of course, is Uber’s practice of hiking fares based on demand, which has been reviled by passengers as unfair and exorbitant.
This isn’t the first time Gett has gone aggressively after Uber in a bid to gain market share in the Big Apple. Not long after its debut in the city in 2014, it ran a series of critical ads, including one that read, “The competition, whom we shall not name, is uber ripping you off.”
Gett is well-established in several dozen European cities, including London, and in Moscow. Last month, Volkswagen announced that it was making a $300 million “strategic investment” in Gett, a major victory for the company as automakers increasingly ally themselves with ride-hailing services. General Motors has invested $500 million in Lyft, Uber’s main U.S. rival, while Uber is said to be in talks with Fiat and other automakers.
In seeking to gain traction in New York City, Gett is in good company. In addition to Uber and Lyft, there are start-ups like Juno and GoGreenRide.
Not unlike Gett, Juno sees itself as an anti-Uber, although the distinction it seeks to highlight are high-quality drivers. The company has targeted drivers with high star ratings on Uber — 4.75 or above — and other platforms, offering them a much more attractive commission structure, taking just 10 percent on fares versus Uber’s 20-28 percent cut.
GoGreenRide markets itself as an environmentally-friendly version of the city’s ubiquitous yellow cabs. Drivers are full-time, benefited employees — not contractors, the defining feature of most ride-hailing companies — and they drive the company’s fleet of hybrid vehicles.