DiDi tilts at Uber in the battle for SA’s roads

DiDi Chuxing offers safety and other features that will benefit drivers and passengers

A new ride-hailing contender has entered the SA market: DiDi Chuxing. Here’s how it compares with our existing favourites, Uber and Bolt.

DiDi Chuxing is from China, where Uber and Bolt (formerly Taxify) also operate. Uber launched in 2009, Bolt (as Taxify) in 2013 and DiDi in 2012.

DiDi has 15-million active drivers globally (a March figure). Uber has 4-million drivers and Bolt 1.5-million.

DiDi was a major competitor to Uber in China until 2016, when it bought Uber’s Chinese operations for $35bn.

In this market it seems quantity trumps quality. Uber, which started before DiDi, has not been profitable since its inception, while DiDi became profitable in the first quarter of this year, making $30m.

Uber, on the other hand, keeps losing money. It has promised investors it will be profitable on an adjusted pre-tax earnings basis by the end of this year. It’s already been 12 years of promises, but the company is still hopeful.

Uber was one of the most successful startups. By August 2018, it was valued at $72bn. It’s widely believed it has become the Amazon of transport. Even though it was never profitable, many tried its business model, but failed.

DiDi has become Uber’s main competitor in the global market, but other e-hailing companies like Lyft, Gett, Grab and Via, also compete. Most of these do not operate in SA.

DiDi launched in Cape Town in March and recently expanded to Gauteng. Earlier this year it ran a successful pilot in Gqeberha.

The Gqeberha pilot signed up about 2,000 drivers, carrying about 20,000 passengers, according to the company.

The firm says some of its safety features are “artificial intelligence, facial recognition for drivers, SOS buttons for riders and drivers linked to local police, 24/7 support via a dedicated safety hotline, preview information for riders and drivers, and safety training for drivers”. But its staff couldn’t really explain how the AI technology works in its cars.

What DiDi will bring to SA is increased employment. The e-hailing company prides itself on taking only 13% of a driver’s earnings, whereas other ride-hailing services take about 20%.

Unlike other services, users will be able to make inquiries with local customer service reps.

Drivers should expect to do physical “onboarding” before being integrated into the company at a site that includes a full Covid protocol course and which provides drivers with the necessary equipment.

This includes barriers in vehicles, which many ride-sharing services adopted last year, to halt the spread of the virus. Many customers now expect this.

The new service will probably aim at undercutting existing operators and is offering specials and incentives — like the DiDi specials in Gauteng, where, on Saturdays, passengers can score free rides for what would otherwise cost up to R60 a shot.

MyBroadband tested the three major ride-hailing services in SA.

It says: “We found that DiDi was the cheapest service on average

[of] all the trips, at R216, which worked out to about R6.35 a km.

“For six out of nine rides, DiDi was the most affordable choice, and for two of the remaining trips it was the second-cheapest option,” MyBroadband reports.

Among the safety features are dangerous-zone notifications, which will automatically block unsafe areas. Other features include a safety toolkit for drivers and passengers, background checks of drivers, and even passenger verification.

Both passenger and driver can share the car’s live location with a third party and initiate a recording of the trip if any of the parties feels unsafe. Drivers will be able to see the destination request before accepting the ride. Drivers will also be able to block a passenger, unlinking them in the app.

Starting from September 27, DiDi will offer free rides to and from vaccination sites if passengers are registered on the government’s EVDS portal.

The next evolution of ride-hailing technology is autonomous, driverless vehicles, and DiDi is testing autonomous driving with a fleet of about 100 cars. Contrast this with Uber, which sold its Uber Advanced Technologies Group to self-driving car startup Aurora last year.

DiDi, however, is rolling out out a purpose-built vehicle for ridehailing with Chinese manufacturing company BYD and is working on a model with autonomous driving functions with Chinese car maker GAC.