GM Invests in Chinese Car-Sharing Company
When it comes to the debate over whether or not car-sharing services will replace traditional car ownership, General Motors certainly appears to be covering all the possibilities. First, GM invested heavily in Lyft, then created its own car-sharing service called Maven, and finally has recently invested in Yi Wei Xing Technology Company.
Yi Wei Xing Technology Co., based out of Beijing, works with car-rental companies, allowing prospective renters to reserve vehicles by the minute, hour, or day through its smartphone app called Feezu. Although the company only began back in 2014, it already operates out of more than 40 cities in China.
Neither company would share the amount of the investment, but as ridesharing demand ramps up in China (Uber China and Didi Chuxing battled over the market until the latter, much larger company bought out the former). Currently, the majority of all car-hailing services in China go to Didi Chuxing, a huge company backed by Chinese tech giant Alibaba, as well as Apple.
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It is unclear whether GM will do for Yi Wei Xing the same things it is currently doing for Lyft, where the company is providing vehicles for short-term lease (including, notably, the brand new Chevrolet Bolt, whether or not Lyft gets it before consumers). Either way, Yi Wei Xing is expected to give GM good insight and a strong foothold in the Chinese market.
“Every market has its unique requirements for car-sharing services,” said Julia Steyn, GM vice president of Urban Mobility Programs, to The Wall Street Journal, “Yi Wei Xing has solid technologies and innovations that will help us explore more efficient and personalized mobility solutions for consumers in China.”
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News Source: The Wall Street Journal
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