Interior of the burned defective Honda Vezel. (Image source: Wall Street Journal)
A damning report by the Wall Street Journal showed that Uber knowingly leased over 1,000 defective cars to drivers in Singapore.
As part of its plans to increase market share, Uber began buying cars and leasing them to drivers in Singapore over the past year.
The cost of a car in Singapore was amongst the highest in the world and Uber had difficulties finding drivers here. The plan was to buy cars and then lease them out cheaply to drivers.
When it bought over 1,000 Honda Vezels to add to its fleet, it was aware that Honda had earlier recalled the Vezel because of an electric component that could overheat and catch fire.
Honda issued the recall in April 2016. However, internal emails showed that Uber had not fixed the cars even in January 2017.
It was then that a Uber-owned Honda Vezel caught fire. The driver, Koh Seng Tian, smelled smoke in his Vezel and flames started to burst on his dashboard. Fortunately, he managed to escape the incident unhurt.
After the fire incident, Uber panicked and quickly put safety measures in place.
After the fire, Uber also said, "We took swift action to fix the problem, in close coordination with Singapore’s Land Transport Authority as well as technical experts. But we acknowledge we could have done more—and we have done so."
Uber added, "Since the beginning of the year, we've proactively responded to six vehicle recalls and will continue to do so to protect the safety of everyone who uses Uber."
This incident adds to Uber's long list of controversies and scandals that happened while ex-CEO Travis Kalanick was helming the company.
Kalanick was notorious for "running the company like a scrappy startup" and seems to have little regard for rules and regulations. He resigned as CEO after investors could no longer tolerate him.
Hopefully the next CEO will be able to steer Uber in the right direction because this incident shows a blatant disregard for the safety of its customers and drivers.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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