Didi Chuxing to trial Japan premium service with Tesla, Mercedes cars
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Didi Chuxing will trial a premium ride hailing service in Japan offering Tesla, Lexus and Mercedes Benz vehicles, a company representative said.
The ride-hailing firm will roll out a "DiDi Premium" trial later this month in some areas in Tokyo in a move to diversify its operations in Japan, the representative told Reuters via a text message on Tuesday.
It will use premium vehicles including Tesla Model S sedans, Mercedes Benz S-class sedans and Lexus LS series sedans, and Didi hopes to eventually expand it to other major Japanese cities.
Besides Tokyo, Didi offers taxi-hailing services in Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya.
In July, Lexus parent firm Toyota said it would invest $600 million in Didi Chuxing and a new joint venture as the companies seek to develop connected and electric vehicle technologies in China.
Tesla started to take orders for Model 3 vehicles in Japan in May.
(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; editing by Jason Neely)
