After cars entered Shanghai, savvy foreign businessmen sniffed out the business opportunities, and taxis became a new industry.
On September 18, 1908, American Global Supply Company Department Store purchased five Cadillac cars to provide car rental services to customers. This was the beginning of taxis in Shanghai. But the first taxi company to open a taxi company in Shanghai was American Automobile Company on August 7, 1911. American Automobile Company's car dealerships are located at Nos. 381 and 382 Nanjing Road, and its general management office is at No. 103 Sichuan Road. On August 7, 1911, the English "Zi Lin Xi Bao" published the company's "No. 1 taxi price list":
If you want to visit, shop, listen to music, go to gatherings, dance and entertainment venues It is very comfortable to travel by taxi. The price is:
The first mile or a little bit - $0.60
Every 1/4 mile thereafter - $0.15
All are calculated based on this.
Specially appointed cars are calculated on time.
Station (service desk): Huizhong Hotel, Licha Hotel, Customs Terminal, Shanghai Club, and Longfei entrance of the Racecourse.
Or call a taxi at 3290
American Automobile Company (Oriental Motor Company) Kai
American Automobile Company introduced French Renault brand cars to Shanghai. These vehicles were fashionable in style, could seat four passengers, carry luggage, and had automatic billing devices. They were the same as the taxi models in Paris and London at that time, but they had been improved to varying degrees to suit the requirements of the Shanghai area. At that time, newspapers reported in detail the opening of this company, and also introduced the situation of the vehicles in detail, especially mentioning that most of the passengers were "senior employees of large companies living in the West District."
Since then, there have been plans to open taxi companies. American Mercedes-Benz Co., Ltd., American Automobile Co., Ltd., Hengmao Co., Ltd. and Central Motor Company all obtained approval from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to operate taxi businesses, and the taxi industry began to take shape. The American company Yunfei Automobile Company came up behind. In 1921, the company started business with 14 second-hand Ford cars. A few years later, it developed to more than 200 brand-new taxis and employed more than 600 people. It dominated the market for a while. Later, Chinese-owned taxi companies appeared one after another, such as Xiangsheng Automobile Company, creating a situation of competition with foreign companies.
In the early days, taxi charges were very expensive and could be charged by the hour, mileage or daily basis. If calculated on time, it costs 4.5 yuan per hour. In addition to the fare, passengers must tip the driver about 10%, which is almost equivalent to a month's salary of a small coachman. Although some car companies have lowered prices to attract customers, ordinary citizens cannot afford such prices and can only sigh in excitement at the sight of the cars. Most of the people who can take a ride in style are foreign businessmen and dandy kids. The 1930s was the golden age of taxis in Shanghai. There are nearly a hundred taxi companies in Shanghai, among which the following ten are famous:
1. American Yunfei Automobile Company
American Yunfei Automobile Company was once the leading taxi company in the taxi industry The boss among them: owns all Ford taxis. The general manager is an American named Galt. Advertisements made by the company in the early years said, "A few doubts are in the sky, soaring in the clouds and fog", describing the speed of taxis.
2. British businessman Tanle (also translated as Tailai) Automobile Company
The boss Tanle is British and owns 64 vehicles. Tanle Company is a time-honored taxi brand in Shanghai. When horse-drawn carriages were still popular, it actually parked its taxis next to the horse-drawn carriages to compete with them.
3. Lili Automobile Company
In that year, the "News" published an advertisement of Lili Company: "Taxi, fast service, luxurious vehicles, agile driving, take advantage of it." Extremely comfortable. ”
4. North China Automobile Co., Ltd.
The head office is located at No. 7 Nanxun Road. It attracts customers with the slogan "lower fees than ever before".
5. Xiangsheng Taxi Company
This bank is the largest and most famous among Chinese car companies, with 270 taxis and 22 branches. General Manager Zhou Xiangsheng , followed by three yuan.
6. China Public Yellow Car Company
The cars of this company are all painted yellow, and the advertisement is simple and easy to remember, called "Please take a ride on the Chinese Yellow Car."
7. Huashang Yin Automobile Company
The Yin Automobile paints its entire body in silver with a red band embedded in the middle.
8. Etai Automobile Company
It has two sizes of cars. The larger one can seat 7 people, and the smaller one can seat 5 people.
9. Xinzha Automobile Co., Ltd.
It was founded in 1923 and is located at No. 391 Mathurst Road.
10. Huashang Southern Automobile Company
There are 8 stations in the city, and the taxi hotline is 80008.
Three of them, Xiangsheng, Yunfei and Silver Car Company, are household names in Shanghai. Xiangsheng Company is a taxi company run by Chinese people. In his early years, the owner Zhou Xiangsheng worked in a hotel owned by foreigners. He often hired cars for customers and had a good relationship with drivers and car dealers. Later, he even ran his own taxi company and started a taxi company. Old cars started to snowball into success. In 1931, Zhou Xiangsheng, following the advice of a friend, was sure that the U.S. exchange rate would rise, so he made a prompt decision, raised funds, paid a 20% deposit in advance, and ordered 400 Chevrolet cars from General Motors, which was selling cars in Shanghai, with each batch costing 100 yuan. vehicles, arriving in four batches. Sure enough, by the time these brand-new Chevrolet cars arrived in Shanghai, their prices had doubled. In addition to keeping more than 200 vehicles for himself, Zhou Xiangsheng sold off all the other vehicles. With this transaction, all the vehicles of Xiangsheng Automobile Company were almost made in vain.
Due to its good management, the company was officially established on New Year's Day in 1932, and soon its scale surpassed that of the American Yunfei Company. It has 270 vehicles, 22 branches all over the city, and a special agency. With more than 50 locations, it firmly occupies the top position in Shanghai. Xiangsheng's car is the latest Chevrolet, with a dark green body color and eye-catching markings of "Xiangsheng" and the English letter "J" on the front of the car, as well as a 40,000 phone number painted on it. Xiangsheng's vehicles were new, well-maintained, and his service attitude was good. At that time, fares were the same across the city, so of course passengers were happy to take Xiangsheng's cars.
Yunfei painted the car body brown, and the two characters "Yunfei" were painted on the roof. It was clearly visible when leaning over the balcony and looking down. The advertising slogans "Yunfei Car, soaring into the clouds and driving the fog"; "Yunfei Coachman, well-trained, safe driving" are also quite eye-catching. The silver car service is attentive, the driver wears the same uniform, the vehicle is well maintained, and the coupons are used at the earliest. Various companies have advertised "taxi service day and night", "call a taxi, always available", "taking a taxi is commonplace", and try their best to attract customers.