Taxicabs By Country - Singapore

Singapore

Total fleet: 24,022 (April 2008)

All taxicabs are fitted with meters and air conditioning; about 90% of taxis have radiophones; call booking is done through GPS or digital voice dispatch

In the mid-1960s, the first taxicab company had their vehicles painted black with a yellow roof top. The model was a Mercedes Benz 220S, followed by the Austin Cambridge A60 which lasted till the mid-1970s. By then, the most popular taxicabs in Singapore were painted pale light blue. From the early 1990s many new taxis had new liveries, and the biggest taxicab company ComfortDelGro repainted its taxis in dark blue colour with a new logo.

Early examples used the Volga Gaz 24, Isuzu Florian and Morris Marina which were replaced by the Nissan Cedric (Datsun 220C Diesel), the most common taxicab model in the 1970s and 1980s but the Toyota Crown Diesel is the most popular taxi since the mid-1980s until today. The smaller Toyota Corona CT191 marked the late 1980s to mid-1990s era.

Currently cars commonly used as taxicabs in Singapore are the Nissan Cedric Y31, Toyota Crown Diesel LS150, and Chevrolet Epica taxicab. In the mid 90s, Mercedes-Benz E-Class cabs were introduced as a premium service catered to the airport & hotels. Mercedes-Benz V-Class dubbed 'Maxicabs' followed soon after to cater to those who has greater demands or for private event limousine bookings. With a law passed instating the use of the Euro IV-compliant diesels in October 2006, some taxicab companies switched to alternative models. Singapore taxis had used various models recently. Notably LPG models, which are increasingly popular due to government campaign for extensive use of locally-manufactured LPG, such as Toyota Corolla Fielder, Honda Airwave, Volvo V70 Bi-Fuel though diesel examples, which still proved economical to run, like the Volkswagen Touran, Škoda Superb, Ssangyong Stavic, Kia Magentis, and the Hyundai Sonata & European-built Toyota Corolla are imported. The whole cab fleet in operation predominantly consisted of 4-door saloon models with the more practical estate versions (Corolla Fielder, Airwave, V70) being the latest addition.