MAM
“At Zoomcar, we are always thinking of fun ways to make travel memorable for our customers”: Zoomcar’s Greg Moran
Mumbai: Zoomcar, a leading marketplace for car sharing in emerging markets which recently got publicly listed on NASDAQ, has announced a heartwarming addition to its car fleet just in time for Valentine’s Day: the ZoomChariot. Every year brands battle for the most unique ways to make their customers feel loved. This year, Zoomcar has gone above and beyond their car sharing marketplace model where local hosts share their cars with guests and introduced a special e-victoria buggy called the ZoomChariot.
This initiative has aimed to elevate Valentine’s Day experience in the most romantic way of travel through the enchanting streets of Nariman Point, Mumbai. The inspiration behind the ZoomChariot campaign stems from the desire to offer people unique and unforgettable experiences. Whether or not you own a car, with Zoomcar you can always drive one like you own it and indulge yourself in luxury by booking high end cars on special occasions like Valentines Day. By introducing the ZoomChariot, Zoomcar aims to cater to this sentiment, providing couples with a novel and enchanting way to celebrate their love by traveling in style.
Indiantelevision.com caught up with Zoomcar CEO Greg Moran, where he talked through the inspiration and creation of this campaign.
Edited excerpts
On the inspiration Zoomcar took to introduce ZoomChariot
The inspiration behind the ZoomChariot campaign stems from the desire to offer people unique and unforgettable experiences. Whether or not you own a car, with Zoomcar you can always drive one like you own it or indulge in a higher car model for added luxury on special occasions like Valentines Day. By introducing the ZoomChariot, Zoomcar aims to cater to this sentiment, providing our customers with a novel and enchanting way to celebrate their love by traveling in style, keeping convenience and freedom to journey the way you want the center of our mission.
On the user experience of booking and enjoying a ride on ZoomChariot, particularly on Valentine’s Day
The ZoomChariot can be directly booked on the Zoomcar app. By selecting the location as Nariman Point, Mumbai, one can fill a form where they can block their slot of choice for the ride available every 15 mins on the app. On the day of go live on 11th Feb, hundreds of customers immediately booked the ZoomChariot and all slots were sold out within minutes. We are offering the ZoomChariot again on 14th Feb.
On the response received from customers who have experienced ZoomChariot rides
People at Nariman Point were lining up to get onboard our ZoomChariot decorated with flowers, fairy lights and balloons. We also saw some folks post about it on Instagram and X.com tagging us. The response was overall very heart warming full of surprise and awe as people know of us as a brand to share a car from. The ZoomChariot was definitely eye catchy and people loved taking a ride with their loved ones and family.
I came across this super cool chariot set-up by @Zoomcar_India at Nariman Point.
10/10 think they’re a great way to spend Valentine’s!pic.twitter.com/2vTjoljw2t
— Mehul Fanawala (@MehulFanawala) February 11, 2024
On ZoomChariot contributing to sustainable and eco-friendly mobility solutions, especially with its electric chariot option
The inception of Zoomcar is built on the strong foundation of providing and scaling sustainable mobility options while traveling. Our marketplace model is built on this foundation & ensures a sustainable solution to a growing demand from environmentally conscious customers. For Valentines Day we wanted to give our users the utmost romantic way to travel and turning an electric Victoria into a ZoomChariot was a match made in heaven.
On logistical considerations Zoomcar took into account when planning the availability of ZoomChariot rides
Nariman Point is one of the most iconic and enchanting streets of Mumbai where locals and tourists go on romantic walks and rides by the sea. For Valentine’s day we decided to make use of the occasion and bring out the romance by creating a ZoomChariot of the e-victoria buggy and offering free rides for a lasting memory. We launched it on 11th Feb, Sunday one of the busiest and easiest days people visit the location and also offer it again on Valentines Day for those celebrating in and around the location. The ride is scenic during a sunset and dreamy romantic later in the evening with the fairy lights on.
On extending plans to ZoomChariot service beyond Valentine’s Day or to other cities in India
At Zoomcar, we are always thinking of fun, adventurous and out of the box ways to make travel convenient and memorable for our customers. While ZoomChariot was a tactical campaign to make people feel loved and elevate their Valentine’s Day plans, we aim to be a part of more such journeys in the coming days.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
