Look: Dubai to launch new 'iconic', one-of-a-kind taxi early next year

Dubai Taxi Company (DTC) plans to launch an iconic taxi which will not be found anywhere else in the world, its CEO said.

The company displayed the new electric vehicle at Gitex Global 2025 exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

“It is entirely designed by DTC and will be part of the company’s fleet at the Dubai International (DXB) in the first quarter of next year, and then it will be rolled out to another areas of the city,” Mansoor Rahma Alfalasi, CEO of Dubai Taxi Company, told Khaleej Times in an interview on Monday.

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This taxi would allow Dubai to join the ranks of major cities around the world such as London and New York, that are identifiable by their iconic taxis (black cab and yellow cab, respectively).

Alfalasi called it an "iconic car", saying that nowhere else in the world would such a taxi be found, "especially at airports".

“It is a 100 per cent electric car and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology," he said. "Everything is built-in and it can carry people of determination (PoDs). In the last three decades... all the knowledge that DTC has, it brought all of it (into) this car."

The five-seater vehicle — PV5 — will have six built-in cameras. It is a spacious vehicle, with a trunk capacity of 1,100 litres.

Massive fleet

DTC is a leading mobility provider and enjoys 45 per cent market share as a taxi operator in Dubai. It operates a fleet of approximately 6200 taxis, including pink taxis catering to families, women, and children, as well as accessible vehicles designed to serve people of determination. The fleet also features over 600 premium limousines.

Alfalasi elaborated that they have not yet decided about the number of vehicles to be rolled out, but it is going to have a good number of them.

“The only missing thing in this car is that it is not autonomous. But of course, this will be the next thing,” he said, adding that South Korean car manufacturer Kia — which manufactured the car — is still studying the autonomous functionality in the vehicle.

“This will suit our operation in the coming years,” he said.

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