Uber Technologies to fix defective cars rented to Singapore drivers
04 Aug 2017
Uber Technologies today said it has taken action to fix defective cars that it had rented to drivers in Singapore and was coordinating the city state's regulators to resolve any concerns.
The Wall Street Journal earlier quoted internal Uber emails and documents showing the ride-hailing firm had rented over 1,000 defective Vezel sport-utility vehicles, manufactured by Honda Motor to drivers.
The model had been recalled by Honda in April 2016 over an electrical component that could overheat and catch fire. Uber managers in Singapore were not aware of the recall when they bought the vehicles, the report said.
"As soon as we learned of a Honda Vezel from the Lion City Rental fleet catching fire, we took swift action to fix the problem, in close coordination with Singapore's Land Transport Authority," Uber said in a statement.
"But we acknowledge we could have done more - and we have done so." Uber added, it had hired three experts at the rental firm to ensure it fully responded to safety recalls.
According to commentators, the latest incident added to problems affecting the San Francisco-based firm, which has faced complaints about its workplace culture, a federal inquiry into software to help drivers avoid police and an intellectual property lawsuit by Waymo, the self driving car unit of Google parent Alphabet.
The San Francisco-based company, which is valued at about $70 billion has faced several hurdles as it seeks to expand globally.
The company fell foul of local transport regulations in countries including South Korea and India and had to suspend operations in Macau earlier this year after a dispute with local regulators.
It has also been accused by taxi drivers from around the world of unfair competition and undercutting prices
