It seems that in order to surpass its rival in one of the most profitable markets, Didi Chuxing is attracting employees from Uber’s management team.
Didi’s employees are using Uber’s services incognito, talking with passengers to highlight their rival’s weaknesses, among other strategies.
In addition, Didi is thinking beyond the private cars transport, as it apparently plans to offer bicycle, scooters and motorcycles services in Mexico.
In addition, it would have enough funds to carry out its ambitious plans thanks to the investment of global companies among which are Apple, SoftBank Group, among others. This year he only managed 10 billion dollars that he will use for his global expansion.
However, the bold commitment to Mexican territory does not imply a sure triumph. For starters, Mexico is the first country where the Chinese company seeks to enter from scratch outside of Asia, which is already a risk.
However, Latin America is the next battlefield to enter for Didi, where it seeks to prove that it is worth the 56 billion dollars with which it has been valued.
Hard competition with Uber
And although Didi is the largest private transport company by a number of trips in the world, thanks to its dominance in China, where it has 450 million users, Uber also has much to offer in Latin America.
San Francisco-based Uber, is the largest in Latin America, with Brazil and Mexico as its largest markets outside the United States. In Mexico, for example, it had 87% market share in August, according to Dalia Research, a Berlin-based research company, a report that appeared in Reuters.
Didi, meanwhile, wants to change this situation and has moved since last year, as Reuters also reported, recruiting employees to Mexico City.
With an office on the ninth floor of a shared office building in the Juarez neighborhood, Didi is creating an operation from scratch, unlike what he did in India or the Middle East, where he bought shares in existing companies.
In Mexico, Didi was not able to buy shares in an existing company, it is reported because apparently, no other competitor had enough market share to invest in them.
Currently, at the head of the initial operations at Didi Mexico is Lin Ma, Director of International Operations. This executive was responsible for working in the operations of the 99 companies, which was bought by Didi in Brazil last year.
Ma and others in Didi have managed to attract up to now five Uber managers and specialists in Mexico, who have experience in operations, logistics, strategy, marketing and driver training.
The company still has to manage to recruit drivers. It is not yet clear in which cities it would start operations.
The above article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English. Click here to read the original article.
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