Eying Uber, China's Didi launches in Mexico's second city

Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing said Tuesday it is launching service in Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara, expanding its presence in the country—and its challenge to market king Uber.

Didi Chuxing rolled out trial operations in the Mexican city of Toluca in April, and has also launched in the country's third-largest city, the northern industrial hub of Monterrey.

The play for Guadalajara ups the ante in its battle with Uber for Latin America's second-largest economy, part of the Chinese service's worldwide bid to cut into the San Francisco-based company's market share.

"Didi Chuxing ... today began offering service in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city and the capital of the state of Jalisco after receiving the operating license from the state's transportation secretary," it said in a statement.

"The company will first offer Didi Express, its main affordable on-demand transportation service, to the five million citizens in the metropolitan area."

Didi Chuxing is used by hundreds of millions of people in China, where it muscled out Uber in 2016 after a bruising turf battle.

One of Asia's most valuable start-ups, it has recently entered Australia, Japan and Brazil, while forcing Uber to retreat from Southeast Asia.

In Mexico, it is starting service from the ground up, rather than purchasing an existing firm as it did in countries such as Brazil and India.

© 2018 AFP