BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing said on Wednesday it would expand its partnership with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd (GAC Group) to areas such as ride-hailing operations and autonomous driving.
China's largest ride-hailing firm and Guangzhou-based GAC Group will work on fleet expansion and management, development of new mobility products, and collaboration on smart driving, including autonomous driving technology, Didi said in a statement.
Didi has also invested in OnTime, a mobility platform newly-launched by GAC Group and will support the company with its data capabilities and operational expertise, it added.
GAC Group was among 31 automakers and parts suppliers that formed an alliance with Didi last year. Didi said at the time that it wanted to offer its customer and operational skills to automakers wanting to develop their own ride-sharing services in return for design expertise.
Didi has set up joint ventures with a unit of Chinese carmaker Beijing Automotive Group Co Ltd and Germany's Volkswagen as part of its goal to ultimately develop purpose-built cars for its services.
GAC sold over 2.1 million cars last year, including units made with Toyota, Honda and Mitsubishi.
(Reporting by Yilei Sun in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Himani Sarkar & Uttaresh.V)
