Over the years, the image of crowded bus terminals waiting to buy tickets has become unpopular, including at peak times such as Chinese New Year. Many major bus terminals such as My Dinh, Gia Lam (Hanoi) have become more deserted, with many 45-seater buses leaving the terminal with only a few passengers on board. More than once, drivers are forced to leave without any passengers, a condition that transport officials call “wind-carrying”.

Online Bus Terminal, Taxi Arrival App

In the face of this situation, transport enterprises were forced to transform their business models, focusing their investments on digital platforms. A series of online booking applications were launched, making it easier for bus companies to connect with customers. Through channels such as Zalo, Facebook, mobile applications, the garage can reach customers instantly, optimizing booking and payment. Passengers only need a phone to complete booking and transactions in a convenient, fast way.

At the seminar “Business Development Platforms: Driving Vietnam's Digital Economic Growth” organized by the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM) on February 19, 2025, experts analyzed the importance of digital platforms in the transport industry. Grab's success is typical, not only opening the race to develop ride-hailing apps, but also encouraging traditional taxi companies and carriers to invest in digital technology to maintain market share.

Race for a “foothold” on the phone screen

According to a mid-February 2025 report from an Indian consulting firm on the ride-hailing market, Xanh SM, Grab and Be are the three platforms that occupy the largest ride-hailing market share in Vietnam. Traditional taxi companies such as Mai Linh and VinaSun are still struggling to compete in the digital market.

Not only in the taxi sector, the freight forwarding industry also sees fierce competition. FUTA, GV and Lalamove are prominent names in the intercity shipping segment, while Grab, Be and SM Green dominate the inner-city delivery segment. Fierce competition has forced some apps to leave the market, such as Gojek officially withdrawing from Vietnam in October 2024.

In order to win a “foothold” on users' phone screens, platforms constantly launch promotions, discounts on first car bookings, and at the same time invest heavily in advertising. The race is not only about calling, but also towards becoming a “super app” with many built-in utilities to keep users in the long term.

Grab has expanded its ecosystem by offering advertising services to major brands such as Romano, Coca-Cola. Meanwhile, SM Green made its own mark by offering wedding car rental services using VF 8 electric cars, at prices from 1 million VND/car for 4 hours, less than 50km. If the specified time or distance is exceeded, the customer will have to pay an additional fee.

Cost of Investment for a Car Calling App

According to an engineer at FSoft, the cost of developing a car calling app is not small. The most popular type today is “App On-Demand” (application on demand), with a minimum investment of about VND 500 million for the initial design. In addition, the operating costs will be proportional to the number of users: the more users, the higher the cost of maintaining the system.

Another important factor is the cost of royalties using digital maps to update locations, house numbers, destinations. This is a large expense that carriers have to take into account when developing their own applications.

Prospects of the car rental market in Vietnam

According to Mordor Intelligence forecasts, the size of the ride-hailing market in Vietnam could reach $1 billion by 2025 and grow to $2.5 billion by 2030. Given this huge potential, taxi companies and transport companies will constantly invest in digital platforms, expanding services to dominate the market.

The future of the transport sector is no longer a story of mere cars, but a war on digital platforms. Investing in technology is no longer an option, but has become a mandatory condition for survival and development in the modern transport sector.

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