Taxi app Uber has ended its UberBlack service in Nigeria. UberBLACK connect riders with professional hire car drivers for a 5-star transportation experience. It appears the service was only stopped in Nigeria as it is still being offered in several cities including Melbourne, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, and several others.
Uber was launched in Ghana yesterday and it seem its the company is limiting the offering to UberX, no official communication was made about UberBlack, same applies to Uganda where it was launched about a week ago.
Uber Black is Uber’s high-end car service that gives users an on-demand ride in a luxury sedan or SUV. Uber Black rides reportedly cost more than twice as much as UberX, XL, and Plus rides, so it’s no wonder the highest-earning Uber drivers drive for Uber Black.
It is also no wonder that only a few Uber riders may be choosing Uber Black. Even Uber did not officially give reasons for pulling Uber Black off its Nigerian operations, it is saying it is replacing UberBlack with UberSelect.
UberSelect is widely described as “UberBlack but the cars don’t have to be black”.
“It’s a luxurious step above UberX; but cheaper than a black car. If you want to ride in style but don’t want to burn a hole in your pocket, this car service is for you. Cars that fall under this category must be newer & otherwise have higher requirements than UberX,” according to UberEstimate.
While introducing UberSelect to its Lagos riders via a message that pops up when the app is launched, Uber said UberSelect is “a new way to get around Lagos in style and at an affordable price.”
It assured its riders that the new service will be at the same quality of UberBlack but at a cheaper price point.
Commenting on this development, an Uber rider who wanted to be identified as Segun, said Uber seems to have finally understood that the Nigerian customer does not really care about the color of the car as long as it is luxurious enough. Asking customers to pay even more because it is a black car, he said, would sound ridiculous here in a market like Lagos.
“What really matters to me is whether it is very good car with the good air conditioning and the driver is courteous. I can’t even remember the color of my last Uber ride. I didn’t even know much about UberBlack until now. I’m guessing very few riders were selecting UberBlack or there were very few cars in the city that met the UberBlack standard.”
Either way, TechCity gathered from Uber riders in Lagos that another challenge before the company would be to figure out a way to let riders know what value UberSelect will offer to command a higher rate than the UberX since the service no longer ‘discriminate’ based on color.
“If they don’t do that, UberSelect may also disappear just like UberBlack,” Segun concluded.
