China’s Didi to expand Latam ride-hailing drive with launch in Costa Rica, taking on Uber
- Didi’s Latin American expansion has brought headaches for Uber, which previously enjoyed relatively light competition in the region
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is preparing to launch in Costa Rica, marking its first expansion into Central America, according to a job posting viewed by Reuters.
The company, which is backed by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, is recruiting for a rider and driver operations associate in the country, according to a job ad on professional networking site LinkedIn.
“You will have the opportunity to work in a tight team, where you will launch, build and run DiDi’s business in (Central) America and (the) Caribbean,” states the job ad, which has not previously been reported.
Didi has waged an aggressive expansion campaign in Latin America. After acquiring ride-hailing start-up 99 to make inroads in Brazil in early 2018, the company built an operation from scratch in Mexico, followed by launches in Chile and Colombia.
Didi’s Latin American expansion has brought headaches for Uber Technologies, which previously enjoyed relatively light competition in the region.
Uber operates in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.