Uber Technologies Inc.’s largest global rival, China’s Didi Chuxing Technology Co., has finally started its American expansion, opening up shop in Mexico in direct competition with Uber.

The expansion into Mexico, first rumored in December, sees Didi Chuxing operating under the more simple-to-spell name of “Didi” in the city of Toluca de Lerdo. The capital city of the central State of Mexico, it has been an Uber stronghold.

According to TechCrunch, Didi is targeting Latin America because it’s the world’s third-largest ride-hailing market behind the U.S. and China thanks to Mexico’s large base of 70 million internet users. “The market is way from saturated, and we are glad to see the local market is not only very welcome to more services but they also understand how beneficial competition in the region is for the final user,” a spokesperson is quoted as saying.

Either way, though Uber might win. SoftBank Group Corp., Japan’s largest multinational telco, is the main investor in everyone in the ride-hailing story — including Didi, Uber, Grab in Southeast Asia, the newly hacked Careem Inc. in the Middle East, India’s Ola, Taxify in Eastern Europe and even Lyft Inc. in the U.S.

Uber owns a 20 percent stake in Didi Chuxing it obtained when it sold off its Chinese division to the company in 2016, and at the same time Didi and Uber both have SoftBank as their largest investor. Didi has since decided to take on its brother in multiple countries, starting with Japan, Brazil, Taiwan and now Mexico. If Didi successfully challenges Uber in the markets it opens up shop, Uber itself profits via its 20 percent shareholding and SoftBank wins as well.

The expansion into Mexico is seemingly the first of more to come in the American market, as a spokesperson said Didi is “exploring every possibility of expanding our business.”

Photo: Didi Chuxing