Chinese online-to-offline giant Didi’s spin-off Xiaoju Automobile Solutions has acquired Shanghai-based after-sales car services firm Hiservice, it announced in a press release today.
Xiaoju will merge the Hiservice business with its own maintenance and repair unit to form Xiaoju Auto Care, which will be co-led by Yinbo Yi, the former head of Didi’s auto care unit, and Cheng Qian, the founder of Hiservice. The new entity will operate 28 facilities nationwide.
Founded in 2015, Hiservice offers car maintenance and repair services, including door-to-door car maintenance, painting, decoration, traffic violations inquiries, emergency rescue, second-hand car valuation and insurance. <
Hiservice also launched a Software-as-a-Service platform for people to make a reservation and use the various services it offers.
In China, where car ownership is on the rise, more people will require after-sales services – and potentially be accessing them through Xiaoju’s tech-enhanced platform instead of traditional after-sales car services providers. As of April 2017, there are 198 million registered cars in China, compared to 172 million cars in 2015.
Other brands under the Xiaoju umbrella includes Xiaoju Auto Leasing & Retail and Xiaoju Gas Refueling.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad
