29th January 2026
Medium Link: Creating a Blue Ocean in Urban Mobility: The Case of Yulu Electric | by Indranil Dutta | Dec, 2025 | Medium
Course
Strategic Management / Marketing
Teaching Note
This case explains how firms create uncontested market space using Blue Ocean Strategy by combining differentiation and low cost. Through an example from India’s urban mobility sector, it applies the Four Actions Framework, Strategy Canvas, and noncustomer analysis, and examines the challenges of sustaining and scaling blue ocean strategies amid competition and regulation.
Theories / Concepts
The case integrates Blue Ocean Strategy, the Four Actions Framework, Strategy Canvas, Non-customer Analysis, and Business Model Innovation.
The Case
Urban transport systems in India suffered from inefficiency and over competitiveness as of 2018. Issues such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and deteriorating quality of life were major problems in major metropolitan areas such as Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, and New Delhi. There was great reliance on a predominantly fragmented transport system. Congestion, pollution and quality of life fixed by a mixture of personal and public transport systems such as two-wheelers, cars, auto rickshaws, taxis, buses, and metro systems. Each mode of transport came with a set of advantages and disadvantages.
Privately owned vehicles were flexible, but came with high ownership costs, malfunctioning atm parts, cluttered public spaces, and pollution. Public transport was cheap, but, chronic overcrowding, and a lack of adaptability. Starting out as a dependable service, app-based taxis lost public credibility due to surging prices, extensive waiting times, and a lack of available drivers.
Moreover there fierce competition and price wars in the transportation market especially amongst and cabs and bike-taxi segment. All were ready to cut down prices and provide best possible services. In-spite of that, the cab and bike-taxi services companies were not able to make profit. Thus, getting into these segments did not remain much attractive.
One more thing, these cab and bike-taxi services were primarily designed to serve for more than 5 km distance. While there was no rule as such in this regard, the cab drivers and bike-services providers were not keen to serve in short-distances which is less than 5km. Even if they would agree, the prices of travelling in short-distance were not attractive enough for lure the passengers.
In light of this, this market possess quite huge opportunity to tap into as there are several use cases such as to and fro journey from home to railway/bus/metro station, nearby markets, railway/bus/metro station to workplace, educational institutes etc. where people face challenges in terms of commuting and they had to ultimately walk to cover the distance (2-5Km distance is not a small distance to cover by walking). This was not a issue of any particular segment but for many such as students, office commuters, gig-workers, tourists etc. While people seem to be quite irritated with such things but it never came out very explicitly.
Given the above backdrop, Bengaluru based company “Yulu” came to the market that understood this unstated need of the commuters. They did not go traditional way of launching bike-taxis. Instead, they thought to solve the problem in a different way. They realized that people would prefer convenience over luxury to commute in shorter distance. Thus, they came up with app-based bike services and launched bikes light weight, low speed and run on battery. Additionally, they have put the bike station near various housing complex, market area, metro stations, tech parks etc. Commuters can go the “Yulu” bike stations and unlock the bike using apps and use it and drop it at the destination bike stations. Interestingly, this bike does not require driving licences to ride. In other words, anyone can ride these bikes. One more thing, these vehicles are less prone to any accident because of low speed.
In nutshell, Yulu positioned itself as a shared, electric, micro-mobility solution for short-distances, rather than competing with taxi, cab, or public transport service. If the key elements of Yulu’s positioning strategy are to be segregated, it would be the following-
- “First- and Last-Mile” Mobility
- Not a Taxi, Not a Bus
- Shared & Affordable Mobility
- Electric & Sustainable
- Convenience Over Speed or Luxury
By doing the above, they created a new category instead of fighting incumbents and getting into direct price and feature wars with taxis and auto-rickshaws, literally solved a specific, underserved pain point. Needless to say they also got benefited from government and corporate partnerships due to its sustainability angle.
Because of this unique business model, Yulu’s case became a strong example of Blue Ocean strategy in the market. Also, they started growing fast. Looking at Yulu’s growth and success story, other players were also started venturing into the market and competition was slowing setting in for the company. Thus, which was a blue ocean ealier, suddenly started becoming a pink ocean.
Here it is important to mention that, Yulu’s success story was not devoid of challenges. In some of the cities where Yulu is operating, had certain issues related to electric infrastructure, lack of proper govt. rules and regulations to name a few. Yulu was quite prompt to gauge the potential severity of the situation and started working strongly with govt of the cities, metro rail authorities and tighten corporate tie-ups. Finally the electric vehicles that were customized for India, continue to gave them the edge over the other competitors.
Yulu’s success highlights few meaningful lesson-
- Innovate continuously
- Listen to your customers
- Technology is just an enabler but unique execution is key to win in the market
Finally, it is important to keep in mind that Blue Ocen is not static. When competitors enter, and the industry starts getting older, firms are expected to modify their approach to ensure distinctive creation, and ensure the defensive imitative barriers are reinforced.”
Key Discussion Questions
- How did Yulu redefine industry boundaries using Blue Ocean Strategy?
- Which elements of the Four Actions Framework were most critical to its success?
- How did targeting non-customers contribute to market creation?
- What risks threaten the sustainability of Yulu’s blue ocean?
- How can Yulu defend its position as competition intensifies?
References
Agarwal, S., Mani, D., & Telang, R. (2020). The impact of ride-hailing services on congestion: Evidence from Indian cities. Transportation Research Part A, 134, 1–14.
Bansal, S., Kockelman, K. M., & Singh, A. (2019). Assessing the sustainability impacts of electric micro-mobility in urban India. Journal of Transport Geography, 81, 102539.
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). (2019). National air quality status and trends in India. Government of India. https://cpcb.nic.in
Department of Heavy Industry, Government of India. (2022). Electric mobility and FAME India scheme overview. https://heavyindustries.gov.in
Deloitte India. (2018). Future of mobility in India: Challenges and opportunities. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/in
Government of India, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (2018). National Urban Transport Policy and urban mobility challenges. https://mohua.gov.in
Gössling, S. (2020). Integrating e-scooters in urban transport systems. Transport Reviews, 40(5), 613–632.
IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation). (2023). Urban transport and infrastructure in India. https://www.ibef.org
McKinsey & Company. (2019). The future of mobility in India: Challenges and opportunities for shared and electric transport. https://www.mckinsey.com
NITI Aayog & Rocky Mountain Institute. (2019). India’s electric mobility transformation: A roadmap for faster adoption. https://www.niti.gov.in
PTI. (2019). Cab aggregators struggle with profitability amid price wars. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com
Singh, Y. J., Lukman, A., Flacke, J., Zuidgeest, M., & van Maarseveen, M. (2017). Measuring TOD around transit nodes toward sustainable urban mobility in Indian cities. Journal of Transport Geography, 60, 234–245.
Statista. (2023). Urban transport usage and congestion levels in major Indian cities. https://www.statista.com
Yulu Bikes Pvt. Ltd. (2023). About Yulu: Micro-mobility for India. https://www.yulu.bikeYourStory. (2019). How Yulu is solving India’s last-mile mobility problem with electric bikes. https://yourstory.com
