Chinese ride-hail giant, Didi Chuxing, is expanding to North America, according to Reuters. Didi has announced plans to expand to Mexico next year. This would be the company’s first international expansion and could introduce some great competition for Uber. Previously, Uber sold its Chinese business to Didi in 2016 after an expensive and lengthy battle.
Didi is the second-most valued and privately owned form in the world, after Uber. Like Lyft, Didi is taking advantage of Uber’s global scandals that have brought harm to the company this year. Scandal after scandal, Uber has hurt itself not only with the public but also running into legal troubles.
Didi apparently has already laid the ground work for Mexico launch, according to Reuters:
About a month ago, Didi met with ProMexico, a government trade and investment body, to discuss opportunities in the country, according to a Mexican official, who declined to provide further details about the conversations.
In addition to expanding to Mexico, earlier this year, Didi opened an R&D center in Mountain View, California that is focused on hiring top talent for artificial intelligence and self-driving car technology. Didi particularly gained traction worldwide when Apple decided to invest $1 billion in the company. At the time, Didi was also in intense competition with Uber on its home turf.
