Uber China changes name, eyes 100 cities for expansion
Uber China, Uber Technologies Inc’s independent China branch, has changed its name to China Uber, as a new start for its ambitious expansion plan, according to the Shanghai-based news portal jiemian.com.
Liu Zhen, head of strategy for China Uber, said the firm is being “increasingly more mature and independent.” And with more Chinese investors joining, it is also more “localized,” she added.
Liu said China Uber will expand to 100 cities, a big step from its coverage of 23 cities currently. “We will focus on cities with a population of more than 3 million in the expansion plan,” she said, and that more second-and third-tier cities will be reached in 2016.
The southern metropolis of Guangzhou currently completes the most number of trips daily among all cities in the world where Uber is available, according to firm’s press releases.
China’s ride-hailing market has already seen intense competition among domestic players over taxi-hailing and ride-on-demand services.
On October 8, Uber announced a plan for $1 billion of investment in China, and that it would set up an independent China branch. That branch would be the only one outside the U.S., located in the Shanghai FTZ, to play down its overseas company status.
The company Didi Kuaidi took 83.2 percent of the market share while Uber, a remote No 2, controlled 16 percent at the end of the third quarter, the research firm Analysys International said in a report.