Adam Muirson: Bolt New Zealand General Manager on the new rideshare option entering the market

A new rideshare option is skidding into the New Zealand market.  

Bolt, hailing from Europe, is promising better deals for both drivers and customers, while challenging the duopoly that currently dominates.  

They’re first launching in Auckland, aiming to bring a breath of fresh air to the market. 

General Manager Adam Muirson told Mike Hosking that for the last couple of years, the competition has been stagnant at best, leading to increasing prices, limited choice, and decreasing service levels. 

He says that there was a growing sense of frustration among drivers at that lack of competition, and the sheer number of applications they’ve received leading up to the launch has reinforced that.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A new right chare company entering the market today, Bolt
arout of Europe. They claimed the here to disrupt the duopoly.
Adam Messner's Bolt new Zealand's general manager and as with us, Adam.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Morning, Good morning Mike, thank you for having me on
the show.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Not at all? Who have we when you said duopoly?
Who we actually got? I lose count as d d
here is still oh less, still here?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Miss?

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Where are they? Are they?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
There?

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Just the two of them along with Uber.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Now you might understanding here in organized it's just Uber
Diddy years.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Okay, So do we need more of you guys? And
how do you know?

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah? Absolutely. If you have a look at the right
chair market here in New Zealand, for the last couple
of years, it's been the competition has been stagnant at best.
With that lack of competitions led to increasing prices, limited
choice at decreasing service levels. So when we were looking
at New Zealand, we suspected that there was sort of

(00:53):
a growing sense of frustration amongst the drivers at that
lack of competition. As we geared up for the launch,
I can tell you what we're seeing is absolutely supporting
that suspicion. The drivers at our events have very much
echoed that back to us, and the sheer number of
applications that we've seen has very much said that we

(01:16):
are a welcome breath of fresh air. When it comes
to your competition in.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
The market, it's a pretty and open market and if
you see a gap, good luck to you. Are they are?
They is Brian behind the wheel, either an Uber driver
or a DoD driver or a Bolt driver, depending on
who you want them to be.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Sorry, can you repeat that?

Speaker 1 (01:34):
I've hopped into an uber and an Uber can be
a taxi, a taxi can be an Uber, an Uber
can be a d D. It's just what if you
want to call yourself. It's just an app, it's just
a ride, and they're on all the apps and so
therefore they're the same drivers, the same cars.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah. Look, it's a competitive, open market for our driver partners,
so you may well have one driver partner working across
all platforms. I think where the real difference comes in
for for Bolt versus our competitors is that since we've
been founded, we've been the most efficient operator in the
mobility sector, which means we've been able to take those

(02:09):
cost savings from the efficiencies and reinvest them where it
matters most and making sure that we're creating better earning
opportunities for our partner drivers.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
And what's I mean? How do you do? Is that
an algorithm that you run?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
We run leanly, and then we make sure we pass
on those savings to our partner drivers and our riders.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Do you cancel when I order you and you hang
around for too long? Do you go and cancel on me?
And then do I have a hassle in getting my
money back? Like I do with Uber?

Speaker 2 (02:44):
We have settings around drivers and riders both being able
to cancel a ride and it will be fees involved
depending on what the scenario was and how long it took. Right.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
That sounds problematic already. This sounds just like more Uber
and more detas and morel are and more of the same.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Look I appreciate when you're looking at it from a distance,
you might see it is same for saying, but where
we really differentiate ourselves. It is simple, but it is effective.
We operate learning and we pass that value on to
our partner drivers and our riders, So our riders are
going to get better access to reliable and affordable ways
to move around the city. What we're really looking to

(03:27):
do is to reduce the reliance that Aucklanders have on
private car ownership and move towards sustainable shared transport options.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Okay, well, I wish you well with Adam Medson, who's
just in Auckland. By the way, if it goes well,
it will spread elsewhere.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
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