
The pink mustache is coming to China. And it will receive a warm welcome — not a snub — from its new hosts.
那兩撇粉紅色的八字鬍要來中國了,並且將受到新主人的熱鬧歡迎,而非冷落。
Lyft, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing start-up that has its drivers affix a striking pink mustache logo to their cars, announced a partnership with Didi Kuaidi, China』s pre-eminent ride-hailing company, that will allow the American company to operate in China for the first time. The cross-border deal will also let Didi Kuaidi operate in the United States.
總部位於舊金山的叫車服務初創公司Lyft以請求司機在車上貼上醒目的粉紅色鬍子聞名。公司宣佈,已與中國的有名叫車公司滴滴快的樹立合作關系。通過這項跨國合作,這家美國公司將得以首次在中國開展業務,滴滴快的也將能夠進入美國市場。
The partnership between the two companies is perhaps the clearest sign yet of the race to conquer different parts of the world in the global ride-hailing industry. The handful of major companies in the business of providing car rides have raised giant sums of money — some into the billions of dollars — and are using the money to open in new markets and release new product offerings. Also on Wednesday, BlaBlaCar, a European ride-hailing start-up, said it had raised $200 million.

這兩家公司的合作也許是全世界叫車服務行業為佔領不同市場開展競爭的最顯然的標誌。乘車服務供應行業的幾家大公司籌集到了巨額資金——有些企業的融資規模高達數十億美元¥——並正在用這些錢開拓新市場,發佈新產品優惠。也是在週三,歐洲叫車軟體初創公司BlaBlaCar宣佈融資2億美元¥。
Nearly all of these companies have their eye on Uber, the huge on-demand ride company that has raised more than $7 billion in venture capital and is valued at more than $50 billion. Over the last five years, Uber has exploded in growth to more than 300 cities across 60 countries.
這些公司幾乎都盯著優步(Uber)。作為一家大型叫車服務公司,優步籌集到了70億美元¥的風險投資,目前的估值超過500億美元¥。過去五年裡,優步呈爆髮式增長態勢,已進入60個國家的300多座城市。
China, in particular, has recently been a hotbed of contention and competition for ride-hailing start-ups. Uber has earmarked more than $1 billion for its aggressive push into Asia — and particularly China — and is spending millions in subsidies to attract drivers and riders to its service with lucrative promotions. Still, Uber』s presence in China is dwarfed by that of Didi Kuaidi, which controls 80 percent of the overall ride-hailing market in China.
尤為是在中國,叫車服務初創公司的激烈廝殺以及競爭近期頻繁上演。優步撥出1億多美元¥用於大舉開拓亞洲,尤其是中國市場。同時,公司還投入大把補貼費用,用優惠的促銷流動吸引司機以及乘客使用自己的服務。但與節制了中國叫車服務市場80%的滴滴快的相比,優步在中國的影響力仍然相形見絀。
Lyft』s partnership with Didi Kuaidi offers a somewhat novel approach to international expansion. Didi Kuaidi, which comprises China』s two largest ride-hailing start-ups, will let Lyft users from the United States find rides in China using the Lyft app. Didi Kuaidi will fulfill those ride requests using its drivers, while Lyft users will not have to leave the app to download or sign up for any new services.
Lyft與滴滴快的的合作,為國際擴張提供了一種對比別緻的模式。滴滴快的由中國最大的兩家叫車服務初創公司合併群組成,它將容許來自美國的Lyft使用者使用Lyft運用在中國叫車。滴滴快的將用自己的司機來知足這些乘車請求,Lyft使用者也不用離開這一運用去下載或者註冊任何新服務。
Didi Kuaidi will have much the same agreement with Lyft for its users. Chinese users entering the United States can find a ride using the Didi Kuaidi app, with those rides being fulfilled by Lyft.
對于自己的使用者,滴滴快的也與Lyft達成為了大致相同的協定。入境美國的中國使用者可以用滴滴快的運用叫車,由Lyft提供乘車服務。
「For Lyft, this the best possible way for the U.S. population to enter into China and find a ride,」 John Zimmer, co-founder and president of Lyft, said in an interview. 「If I』m an American traveling to China, I can land in Beijing, step off the plane and have the best coverage possible to find a ride.」
「對Lyft來講,這是美國人去中國後的最佳叫車模式,」Lyft聯合創始人、總裁約翰·齊默爾(John Zimmer)在接受採訪時說。「假設我是去往中國的美國人,我能在著陸北京之後,一下飛機就能享受到最佳的叫車服務籠蓋。」
For Lyft, a partnership with a local operator like Didi Kuaidi could also help it sidestep some difficulties that an American company entering a foreign market may encounter.「When we look at a market like China, there are various complexities, including local cultural differences,」 Mr. Zimmer said. 「Didi Kuaidi is the only player that has coverage in all cities.」
對Lyft而言,與滴滴快的這樣的本地商家合作,也許也有助於避開美國公司在進入海外市場時可能會遇到的一些難題。「察看像中國這樣的市場,咱們會看到各種各樣的繁雜情況,內含當地的文化懸殊,」齊默爾說。「滴滴快的是僅有一個籠蓋所有城市的市場主體。」
Uber has faced significant pushback from some regional governmental bodies in Europe and elsewhere. In China, it has faced off against the Ministry of Transport, which has tightened its restrictions on ride-hailing apps operating inside the country. In May, an Uber office in Southern China was raided by authorities as part of a broader crackdown on ride-hailing apps.Mr. Zimmer would not discuss the financial terms of the agreement, nor did he say whether Lyft would pay Didi Kuaidi for any rides fulfilled by the latter company.
在歐洲等地,優步面臨地區性政府機構的鼎力抵制。在中國,優步與交通運輸部存在衝突,後者在加緊對在本國境內營運的叫車運用的限制。今年5月,中國當局大面積打擊叫車運用,優步在華南地區的一處辦公室遭遇突擊搜查。齊默爾不願討論協定的財務條款,也未表明Lyft會不會為滴滴快的提供的乘車服務支付款項。
Both companies certainly have financial skin in the game. Lyft said Didi Kuaidi had invested $100 million in it in a round of financing completed in March, which also saw participation from investors such as Carl C. Icahn, the hedge fund manager, as well as Rakuten, Alibaba and Tencent. That round valued Lyft at $2.5 billion. The company operates in more than 60 cities in the United States and has long expressed caution about moving outside the country.
兩家公司確定都有經濟利益牽涉其中。Lyft稱,在3月完成的一輪融資中,滴滴快的投入了1億美元¥。對沖基金經理卡爾·C·伊坎(Carl C. Icahn)、樂天株式會社(Rakuten)、阿里巴巴以及騰訊等投資者也參預其中。在這輪融資中,Lyft估值25億美元¥。Lyft的業務籠蓋了美國60多座城市,但長期以來一直對進軍國外市場持小心態度。
Last week, Didi Kuaidi said it had raised $3 billion in a new round of financing, led by investors including the China Investment Corporation, the Capital International Private Equity Fund and Ping An Ventures.
上周,滴滴快的稱,通過新一輪融資籌集了30億美元¥,主要的投資方內含中國投資有限責任公司、資本國際私募基金(Capital International Private Equity Fund)以及平安立異投資基金。
When it announced the new financing, Didi Kuaidi said its service aided 99 percent of taxi rides hailed by mobile phones in China every day, adding up to three million rides a day, and 80 percent of private car rides, or another three million rides in those cars.
宣佈取得新一輪融資時,滴滴快的稱,中國天天用手機發出的計程車以及私家車乘車需求中,分別有99%以及80%是在自家服務的說明下實現的,各至關於天天300萬次乘車服務。
The partnership comes with trade-offs. Lyft passengers will not see any Lyft branding on the Didi Kuaidi cars in China — including its famous pink mustache — nor will the Didi Kuaidi passengers see any Didi Kuaidi branding inside of Lyft cars in the United States. Since the deal allows each company an easier passage into the other』s country, that may lead to a competitive threat in the future.
達成合作關系時,雙方進行了掂量。在中國,Lyft乘客不會在滴滴快的司機的車裡看到Lyft的任何品牌元¥素,內含赫赫有名的粉紅色鬍子。在美國,滴滴快的乘客同樣也不會在Lyft的車裡看到任何以及滴滴快的有關的品牌標識。因為此次協定會讓雙方更易進入對方的國家,這可能會在將來引起競爭要挾。
In the last year, however, intensified global competition has created many strange bedfellows of companies that were once fierce competitors. Didi Kuaidi was born when the ride-hailing services Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, both of which were spending enormous sums of money trying to outmaneuver the other, merged. Tencent, Alibaba and Rakuten, all of which are Lyft investors, regularly compete in the Asian e-commerce and Internet industries.
然而去年,全世界競爭加劇,促使不少一度是勁敵的公司聯手。滴滴快的本身的出生,是源於曾大把撒錢試圖打敗對方的嘀嘀打車以及快的打車合併。騰訊、阿里巴巴以及樂天同是Lyft的投資者,但在亞洲的電子商務以及網際網路行業,它們經常互為競爭對手。
It is not clear how many Americans entering China use ride-sharing services, and it is similarly unclear how many Chinese wish to use American ride-sharing apps.Lyft and Didi Kuaidi believe that the market opportunity is only growing. Lyft pointed to the more than 5.6 million Americans who visited China in 2014, citing a report from the National Travel and Tourism Office, a part of the United States Department of Commerce. More than 2.1 million Chinese visited the United States last year, another report said.
尚不清楚會有多少來華的美國人會使用拼車服務,同樣也不清楚有多少中國人但願使用美國的拼車運用。Lyft以及滴滴快的認為,市場機會只增不減。Lyft依據美國商務部下屬的旅行與遊覽辦公室(National Travel and Tourism Office)的一份講演指出,2014年有560多萬美國人去往中國。而另一份講演稱,去年赴美的中國人達210多萬。兩岸商貿,在家工作,網路創業,創業賺錢思惟,微商平台,賺人民幣
【對于學習,從現在開始,你尚無晚。別說自己沒基礎,慢慢來;你不懂?問我吧!——定閱微信公家號:愛語吧BBC(iyubabbc)】

留言列表

