Taxelco buys Taxi Diamond, Montreal's largest cab fleet

CTV Montreal: Taxi Diamond sold Taxelco has announced the acquisition of Taxi Diamond, the biggest cab fleet in Montreal.

Taxelco has announced the acquisition of Taxi Diamond, the biggest cab fleet in Montreal.

Electric taxi company Taxelco, which was launched by XPND Capital in 2015, already owns two other firms; Taxi Hochelaga and Teo Taxi, an all-electric service.

The purchase will give Taxelco an overall fleet of 1,720 taxis.

“In terms of innovation, we are going to be providing Montrealers with an experience that has very little comparison to anywhere else in the world,” said Taxelco founder Alexandre Taillefer.

Taxi Diamond's management team will remain in place.

"A year after acquiring Taxi Hochelaga, and eight months after launching Teo Taxi, we've gained key strategic knowledge and learned quite a few lessons," said Taillefer in a statement.

Taxelco said the transaction will allow it to "step up its modernization strategy to meet the needs of Montrealers looking for safe, fast, and efficient professional taxi service."

Taxelco started Teo Taxi in November, the first all-electric fleet in Canada.

“Two, three years from now you'll see a situation where half of the drivers will be with Teo and half of the drivers will remain with Hochelaga and Diamond,” said Taillefer.

Diamond taxi CEO Dominique Roy said drivers will remain self-employed, but company standards will change and there will be strong incentives for drivers to get hybrid or electric cars.

“We have very good deals on those cars for drivers that want to move from regular to hybrid. That's the future of the industry anyway,” said Roy.

Taillefer said changes won't happen overnight, but eventually promises all of his cabs will offer a lot of perks.

“In terms of the colours of the cars, the tablets inside the cars, the fact the cars will provide you with wifi, you can track your car, you'll be able to do ride-splitting,” he said.

Ultimately it will be up to the drivers themselves to decide to adapt – or not.

“We'll need to make the tough calls, but ideally we'll be able to convince them that investing in the appropriate level of service will bring additional revenues and they'll join the parade,” he said.

Right now the company plans to invest $200 million in Montreal alone.

Taillefer said his company's expansion plans won't end here, hinting that Taxelco may take their business model west, to cities like Toronto and Calgary within the next year.

With files from The Canadian Press