Mobike, one of China's biggest bike sharing brands, announced its entry into the Israeli market on Feb 26 at a company press conference.
The Zhongguancun-based company planned to first put a total of 2,500 signature silver and orange dock-less shared bikes on streets of five Israel cities including Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, Ashdod and Haifa a week after its statement.
Li Rong, head of Mobike's Israel branch, said that the company is partnering with a car-sharing service provider under automotive giant Daimler AG--car2go--for its rich market and management experience in opening the Israel market, to better serve local riders.
"We believe that Mobike is an excellent choice for local commuters inside the city and I hope our bikes can win local people's hearts," said Li Rong.
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| A pair of locals ride Mobikes in Israel [Photo/cri.cn] |
Laser Gee, CEO of car2go's Israel Company, showed his optimism about Mobike's prospects and said the company will add its investment to 80 percent next year.
According to Zhou Lijing, marketing manager of Mobike's Israel branch, Mobike will put bikes in crowded places to facilitate use, and the deposit is only 10 Shekel (about 20 yuan).
Users are free of charge in the first month, and after that the price is also cheap, 3.9 Shekel for every half hour.
Customer service offers phone calls in Hebrew and English for the convenience of international tourists, and services are available 24 hours every day including the Sabbath.
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Shared bikes are on the streets of five Israeli cities, including Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, Ashdod and Haifa. [Photo provided chinadaily.com.cn] |
Zhou added, "We have a 5-digit after-sales phone number and we are committed to giving users a solution within 48 hours to 72 hours. If it's a general hardware problem, we will handle it in 24 hours."
Each day, around 50 million rides are taken in China, meaning each bike is used around three times on average.
Ofo, Mobike's biggest rival, has also launched bikes in universities and colleges in Israel, such as Bar-Ilan University, which is popular with the students.
