- General
- February 17, 2019
- 5 minutes read
Didi Plans Chile, Peru Launch : Reuters
Didi Chuxing co-founder and CTO Bob Zhang Photo by Seb Daly / RISE via Sportsfile According to Reuters, Chinese ride-hailing giant…
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| Didi Chuxing co-founder and CTO Bob Zhang
Photo by Seb Daly / RISE via Sportsfile
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According to Reuters, Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is planning a launch in some of Latin America’s fastest growing markets, having begun recruiting managers in Chile, Peru and Colombia. Didi is said to have moved senior executives from China to countries like Chile and Peru, to lead its expansion there. This would signal competition for Uber in those markets.
Didi and Uber already battle for market share in Brazil and Mexico, two of Latin America’s biggest ride-hailing markets. Both companies have already gone head-to-head in the Chinese market, resulting in a 2016 purchase of Uber’s local Chinese operations for a stake in the Chinese counterpart. Uber also did the same with South East Asian rival Grab.
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| Didi Chuxing president Jean Liu
image : World Bank / Simone D. McCourtie
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A move into more Latin American countries comes on the heels of layoffs at the company that will affect 15% of its staff – or 2000 employees. Reuters says a move into Chile has been confirmed by Didi’s new public affairs manager in the country. Felipe Contreras, who occupies the position was previously Uber’s corporate communications chief in Chile.
He also confirmed that Didi was looking to poach a senior executive from Chilean cellular phone company WOM to lead its interactions with government and public policy operations. “We haven’t announced a date; this is internal to the company,” Contreras also said when asked about the timing of the hiring.
