Didi Chuxing, China’s dominant ride-hailing company, has restructured its business to include an international business unit as it eyes further overseas expansion this year. In a statement on Friday, Didi’s founder and chief executive Cheng Wei as well as Didi president Jean Liu Qing announced that the company establishment of its international business division, will also allow it to explore “new models for internationalisation”. “In the next five years, Didi will grow beyond a mobility service to become the world’s leading automotive network operator and a leader in new transportation technologies, as we embrace and lead the transformation of the global transportation and automotive industries,” Cheng and Liu jointly said in the announcement. Following the acquisition of Uber China last year, Liu had stated that Didi aspired to be a global company, and may directly compete in markets where there are no strong local ride-sharing companies. Prior to merging with Uber China, Didi formed an alliance with ride-sharing companies in other regions, including Southeast Asia’s Grab, India’s Ola as well as Uber’s main US rival Lyft, in which all members agreed to share technology, local knowledge and business resources to battle Uber, which had entered various markets worldwide. Didi also poured US$100 million into Lyft, and invested in Grab and Ola. Didi’s new business structure places its core businesses into two groups - namely the Express Mobility Group and the Premier Mobility Group. The Express Mobility Group is comprised of Didi Taxi, Didi Express as well as Uber China, while the Premier group includes Didi Premier, Didi Deluxe, its chauffeur business, as well as its enterprise solutions group. The overhaul also includes a Smart Transportation Feature team, which aims to work with local governments by leveraging Didi’s data to improve transport management and build smarter cities. Didi is also launching a new vehicle resources management centre, as well as an upgraded safety management division.
