As announced earlier this month, South Korea’s leading car-sharing company Socar started its services in Malaysia in partnership with SK Holdings Co., the holding company of Korea’s major conglomerate SK Group, the company said on Thursday.

According to SK Holdings, Socar started its car rental and sharing services via Socar Malaysia, a joint venture set up with SK Holdings. Socar and SK Holdings, which is also a stake investor in Socar in Korea, hope their first overseas car-sharing JV in Malaysia can help their car-sharing business make fast inroads into other Southeast Asian markets.

Socar Malaysia now operates about 100 parking bays and 240 vehicles to provide the biggest car-sharing service in the Southeast Asian country. The chief executive of the company Leon Foong was confident about success of its business emphasizing the growth potential in the country’s car rental and sharing markets. Also the country’s populous downtown areas are in high demand for the service, according to him.

Starting its business in Korea from 2012, Socar now provides about 8,200 vehicles at 3,200 parking bays across the country. Since SK Holdings invested in the car-sharing company in 2015, Socar has greatly benefitted from ICT and vehicle-related services of SK Group, which has helped the car-sharing company solidify its top position in Korea with a membership of more than 3.4 million users.

Starting Malaysia, the two companies will actively seek to make forays into car-sharing markets in other countries, said an official at SK Holdings.

Prime Minister`s Department of Malaysia Minister Nancy Shukri, Korean ambassador to Malaysia Yu Hyun-seok, Chief Executive of Socar Malaysia Leon Foong, Chief Executive of SK Holdings Jang Dong-hyun, and Socar CEO Cho Jung-yeol attended the opening ceremony event held on Thursday.

By Kang Doo-soon and Lee Ha-yeon

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