Didi Goes South: Chinese ride-sharing app to launch in Mexico

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02:48

A corporate showdown is coming to Mexico City. Who will dominate the city's ride-sharing market? Chinese company Didi Chuxing or Uber, the world's number-one ride-hailing app. CGTN's Franc Contreras reports.

From crocodiles to beetles. For nearly 100 years, taxis have been part of Mexico City's urban landscape. Every day, tens of thousands of people here depend on them for transportation. Taxi hailing applications have altered the way people get around.

FRANC CONTRERAS MEXICO CITY "Mexico City is the first in Latin America to use taxi hailing applications. Competition in this already mature market is fierce."

Taxi services in the giant Mexican capital are about to change again. 54-year-old Sergio Armando Vega could see those changes coming. He's part of a large network of Uber drivers here. But in Mexico City, the company takes 25% of the fares. On social networks connecting taxi drivers, Vega learned that a new player is coming to town - the giant Chinese taxi hailing company, Didi.

SERGIO ARMANDO VEGA MEXICO CITY TAXI DRIVER "Another taxi driver on Whats App told many of us that we should all join the Chinese Company that will offer a new platform here and which has received good recommendations. They will begin in Toluca and test out the company. Then they will begin here in Mexico City."

Didi provides taxi service to nearly half a billion Chinese clients. A year ago, it became China's most valuable start-up, raising $5.5 billion dollars. The company expects to boost its profits once it starts in Toluca, a city about 57 kilometers from the capital.

In a statement, Didi Chuxing said, "Through this program, the Company seeks to understand local market conditions and directly experience mobility needs in a major city in the country."

Ballesteros helped create the regulations governing transportation in Mexico City. She says all taxi services must focus on customer service.

LAURA BALLESTEROS MOBILITY EXPERT "For this city to function best, we not only need new technologies and new competitors, but also that all taxis improve their services. That way customers are the winners."

Now valued at $56 billion dollars, Didi is the world's second largest venture-backed private firm. And in this mega-city, it will compete directly with the world's top venture capital company - Uber. FC, CGTN, Mexico City.