Last week, Uber’s biggest competitor in China launched a bus shuttle service. The service called Didi Bus launched on 33 routes in Beijing and 10 routes in Shenzen with plans to expand to other routes by the end of July. To use the service, users download WeChat, a hugely popular mobile networking app developed by Tencent, through which they will access the service via Didi Bus’s WeChat page. Passengers are charged their fares on a pay-as-yo-go basis, with the target being passengers not sufficiently covered by available means of transport. With the Didi Bus service, passengers are assured of a seat on a bus, besides receiving information on their ride such as the driver’s name, license plate number of their vehicle as well as the carrying capacity. Didi Kuaidi has partnered with tourist companies as well as auto rental firms in implementation of the service.
Didi Kuaidi has now launched a new chauffeur service. With the new service, lets you enjoy the convenience of your own car but with the service of a chauffeur provided by the service. According to Tech Crunch, customers are charged a fix rate for the first 10km, with an additional fee for each further kilometer added. Didi Kuaidid says it has recruited close to 1 million drivers to launch the service with roll out in 10 major cities across China.
Didi Kuaidi was formed in February 2015, after the merger of rival apps Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache. The company controls close to 80% of the Chinese market dwarfing Uber with 11%. The company says it offers its service to over 30 million customers daily, with 10 million driver partners signed up.
Source: Tech Crunch
