Uber rivalry goes global: Didi Chuxing to launch in Mexico

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has announced plans to expand to Mexico in 2018.

Didi is China’s main rival to US ride-hailing firm Uber, and follows the company as second on the list of the world’s most valuable venture-backed private firms.

However as of yet it only has operations in China. Mexico will be the company’s first intentional expansion.

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Many of the details remain unclear but despite a lack of official comment Didi has begun recruiting for corporate roles in Mexico. It will launch its smartphone app in the country and begin recruiting local drivers in the near future, though which cities this will happen in remains unclear.

Nevertheless, Didi has stated it plans to launch in the first quarter of next year.

About a month ago according to the South China Morning Post, Didi met with ProMexico, a government trade and investment body, to discuss opportunities in the country.

As more Chinese people begin to travel overseas, Didi expresses it wants to go global too. In April, $5.5bn was raised from investments, which it stated would partly be used to fund global expansion.

Didi has invested in global rivals of Uber including San-Francisco based Lyft, 99 in Brazil, Ola in India, Grab in Singapore, Taxify in Estonia and Careem in the Middle East.