Tencent-backed ride hailing start-up OnTime to launch in Guangzhou before expansion into Greater Bay Area

OnTime, a ride-hailing platform backed by Tencent Holdings and Guangzhou Automobile Group, will become the latest player to enter China’s mobility market, the world’s biggest, when it rolls out services later this month.

The Guangzhou-based start-up will begin services in the city before expanding into the Greater Bay Area – a southern China business hub that covers Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong cities – marking the arrival of yet another new challenger to maker leader Didi Chuxing.

To kick start the service, OnTime announced on its Weibo account that users would be able to hail a ride for a mere 0.01 yuan amid soft operations in Guangzhou this Thursday and Friday, before the full launch.

The foray comes as China’s ride-hailing market heats up after Didi beat Uber out of the country in exchange for a minority stake in 2016. Both Didi and OnTime count Tencent as a major backer, while other investors in the Guangzhou-based start-up include Guangzhou Automobile Group and Guangzhou Public Transport.

An increasing number of carmakers have also been piling into the market. Last month, electric vehicle start-up Xpeng Motors launched a mobility service in Guangzhou and in November BMW announced it had secured a ride hailing permit for Chengdu, making it the first global carmaker to gain such access in China. A car-hailing platform backed by state carmaker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation also began trial operations in Shanghai last year.