Daily Times

Chinese firms FAW Group, Dongfeng Automobile <600006.SS> and Chongqing Changan Automobile <000625.SZ> have set up a venture to establish a ride-sharing platform, Changan said on Saturday, creating the kind of service pioneered by Uber.

“The three major car companies have joined forces to enter the field of shared travel, which provides an opportunity to transform traditional car enterprises,” a notice posted by Changan on its Wechat social media account said.

The new venture, called T3 Mobile Travel Services, would introduce partners from other industries to build the service and seek to make use of the development of driverless cars to offer safer and more efficient travel services to customers.

The three firms signed a cooperation agreement in December.

China’s ride sharing market is now dominated by Didi Chuxing, which is valued at $50 billion (37.79 billion pounds) and counts Japan’s SoftBank Group as one of its major investors.

Published in Daily Times, July 15^th 2018.