Chinese Didi Users Can Now Hail a Lyft Car in U.S.
April 11 2016 - 11:50PM
Dow Jones News
Customers of Chinese car-hailing service Didi can now order Lyft
cars through the Didi app when they are visiting the U.S.
The app integration between Lyft Inc. and Didi Kuaidi Joint Co.
is the first step in a broader coalition between some of the
world's largest ride-sharing companies to battle Uber Technologies
Inc.
Singapore's GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. said it plans to introduce a
similar feature for Southeast Asian travelers visiting the U.S. in
the coming weeks, and both companies plan to begin offering U.S.
customers of Lyft a similar a similar experience when they are
visiting Asia.
By tying together their apps, the companies aim to better
compete with Uber, which lets millions of passengers hail a ride in
hundreds of cities around the world. While Uber is much larger than
Lyft, it faces significant competition in China and other Asian
countries where strong local competitors have emerged.
"The network we are building today is based on the partners'
shared idea that ride-sharing is a highly localized business," said
Zijian Li, Didi's senior director of international strategy, at a
briefing with journalists on Monday.
Didi users who open the app in the U.S. will see Lyft cars on
the screen, which they can order and pay for using payment
information they already have on file with Alipay or WeChat
Wallet.
Drivers will be paid the same amount they would have for a local
passenger. Representatives of Lyft, Didi and GrabTaxi declined to
discuss how they would share revenue from each international
ride.
Didi and Lyft also created a new language-translation option for
the Didi app, which connects the passenger to a live translator who
has been trained to help deal with communication between drivers
and passengers. The translators work from a call center in China
which Didi has contracted with, Mr. Zijian said.
Didi and its two biggest backers, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and
Tencent Holdings Ltd., invested in Lyft last year. As a result of
that deal, Lyft began discussing ways to work with its Chinese
investors to compete strategically against Uber, including sharing
product plans, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall
Street Journal last September. Didi has also invested in
GrabTaxi.
Lyft said it is also working with Indian ride-sharing startup
Ola to offer a similar service in India and with Indian visitors to
the U.S. Lyft, Ola, Didi and Grab all declined to offer more
specific timing on when any additional features will be made
available.
Uber and Didi are in a fierce battle for users and financing in
China. Beijing-based Didi, which dominates the country's private
car-hailing segment, is currently raising more than $1.5 billion in
funding at a valuation of over $25 billion, the Journal reported
last week. To better compete, San Francisco-based Uber last year
formed a Chinese affiliate, UberChina, which was valued at more
than $8 billion.
Write to Douglas MacMillan at douglas.macmillan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 11, 2016 23:35 ET (03:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024