Alibaba, Tencent , Suning, and car makers including Chongqing Changan Automobile have set up a $1.5 billion Chinese ride-hailing venture, a move that could test the dominance of ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing.
Chongqing Changan Automobile said on Friday that it has invested 1.6 billion yuan ($238.36 million) in the Nanjing-based investment company alongside partners such as the investment units of Alibaba, Tencent and retailer Suning.Com, and automakers FAW and Dongfeng Motor.
China is home to the world's largest ride-hailing market, estimated by consulting firm Bain & Co to be worth $23 billion. Of that, Didi Chuxing takes 90% of all bookings.
However, a swathe of car makers, from BMW, Geely to SAIC as well as other tech firms such as Meituan Dianping have also launched their own mobility services in a bid to grab a share of the fast growing market.
Didi, which is backed by Japan's SoftBank Group and Uber, also has joint ventures with BAIC and Volkswagen. Wijaya Ng, who tracks China's automotive industry at Ipsos Business Consulting, said the new venture dovetails with a larger, global trend wherein traditional automakers are entering the ride-hailing sector.
"They see that moving forward, if car-hailing is going to be the future, they want to tap into this market sooner rather than later," said Ng.
Changan said that itself, Dongfeng and FAW will each have a 15% stake in the joint venture, which will set up a ride-sharing company with a focus on new energy vehicles.
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