Photo: Daimler AG
Heralded as the saviors of urban mobility, car-sharing and ride-sharing services have become a mainstay feature of the 21st century’s technologically innovative new ways of living life in the city. Daimler and Geely fans can also live the ride-hailing high life in China thanks to the premium StarRides service, but only if they live in Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou.
Germany’s Daimler and China’s Geely are slowly but inexorably tying the knot on expanding partnerships – we have seen the two global companies join forces to reinvent the Smart brand and now they are also into jointly developing new ride-sharing services.
Their premium StarRides ride-hailing service was launched just nine months ago in the Chinese city of Hangzhou and because it has been received very well the company has decided to expand operations into Guangzhou (since last month) and Chengdu from August 25th.
With a monthly growth rate of around 80% in terms of registered users, the joint venture between the Daimler Mobility AG division and Geely’s Technology Group (a subsidiary of the Geely Holding) has captured the attention of Chinese ride-hailing fans with its premium chauffeur services and fleet of Mercedes-Benz S-Class, E-Class, C-Class and V-Class vehicles.
It seems Daimler and Geely have found a profitable niche within the larger ride-hailing market as the StarRides service is mostly catering to business travelers coming in or exiting Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou through the airport or railway stations.
Both companies offer the right amount of peace of mind with the luxury service, as the drivers of the 100-vehicle fleet in Chengdu (with an increase to 200 cars by the end of the year) get through a very thorough selection process that includes strict background verification, health checkup, premium training and even some defensive driving notions.
The company also offers bilingual – Chinese and English – services and the rides can be programmed through a dedicate website and smartphone app or even the famous WeChat program.
Their premium StarRides ride-hailing service was launched just nine months ago in the Chinese city of Hangzhou and because it has been received very well the company has decided to expand operations into Guangzhou (since last month) and Chengdu from August 25th.
With a monthly growth rate of around 80% in terms of registered users, the joint venture between the Daimler Mobility AG division and Geely’s Technology Group (a subsidiary of the Geely Holding) has captured the attention of Chinese ride-hailing fans with its premium chauffeur services and fleet of Mercedes-Benz S-Class, E-Class, C-Class and V-Class vehicles.
It seems Daimler and Geely have found a profitable niche within the larger ride-hailing market as the StarRides service is mostly catering to business travelers coming in or exiting Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou through the airport or railway stations.
Both companies offer the right amount of peace of mind with the luxury service, as the drivers of the 100-vehicle fleet in Chengdu (with an increase to 200 cars by the end of the year) get through a very thorough selection process that includes strict background verification, health checkup, premium training and even some defensive driving notions.
The company also offers bilingual – Chinese and English – services and the rides can be programmed through a dedicate website and smartphone app or even the famous WeChat program.
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