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Lyft dumps international alliance as it plots global expansion
Lyft Inc. has confirmed once and for all that its global ride-hailing alliance with Didi Chuxing Technology Co., GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd.,and India’s Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd.) is dead.
Lyft advised its users that they should download one of their former partners’ respective apps in the country they are visiting. Users were previously able to book a ride using their local app in the country they were visiting, such as a Grab user being able to book a Lyft ride in the United States, under an agreement signed by the four companies in December 2015.
The move by Lyft to disband the global alliance is not completely unexpected given that former partner Didi Chuxing acquired Uber China in August 2016, with Lyft rival Uber taking a 20 percent stake in Didi as part of the deal.
Lyft users may not be left in the dark while traveling, however. CNBC reported that it is planning to expand internationally and will reveal more details in the year ahead. The company has until now operated only within the United States, while rival Uber is now operating in 563 cities in 81 countries.
The news of Lyft’s potential expansion comes as the company reported a loss of $600 million for the year ending Dec. 31. While the headline figure would appear to be large, particularly given that the company brought in only $700 million in revenue over the same period, according to Bloomberg the loss figure was within a promise Lyft made to investors. It had said it would not lose more than $50 million a month, and the growth in revenue exceeded its growth in losses, meaning that in theory, potential international expansion aside, the company is set to be profitable by 2018.
By way of comparison, Uber is believed to have lost $3 billion in 2016 on revenue of $6 billion, not including the sale of its business in China.
While remaining the underdog to Uber, Lyft also managed to triple its number of rides to 160 million in 2016 from 53 million in 2015. Chief Executive Officer John Zimmer described 2016 as a “breakout year for Lyft with accelerating growth and a clear path to profitability.”
Image credit: Pkg203/Wikimedia Commons/CC SA 3.0
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