Chapter 896 - 361: Li Yang Is Not a Stingy Person

Chapter 896: Chapter 361: Li Yang Is Not a Stingy Person

The funding for Rapid Taxi’s operations is provided by Li Yang, while the car purchase expenses are covered by Jiang Banxia.

So, each holds 50% of the shares.

After a year of development, there are now over nine million registered users, with around 800,000 service personnel daily.

Typically, it’s losing money, operating at a loss.

Fortunately, with daily trips of 300 kilometers and a fleet of 140,000 cars, vast amounts of data are obtained daily, aiding Extreme Shadow Group’s smart driving algorithms.

The city NOC of Extreme Shadow Cars has opened in thirteen cities so far, but the next update might hope to cover the entire country.

After all, Rapid Taxi has already expanded to major cities. If not for production constraints, it could spread to county-level cities.

The cars under the Rapid brand are produced on only two lines, with a monthly capacity of 12,000 vehicles.

In places like the Capital City, there are relatively fewer cars, with only a few hundred running.

The focus remains on first, second, and third-tier cities. First-tier cities roughly have 2,000 cars, second-tier cities 1,200 or so, and third-tier cities are similar to the Capital City, with around 400-500 vehicles.

These certainly cannot satisfy the taxi demand; the mainstream market is still dominated by ride-hailing groups headed by DiDi.

Even in five years, Rapid Taxi may not match the scale of DiDi, which now has millions of drivers.

Currently, with over 100,000 drivers, annual operating expenses are around 10 billion, and the entry barrier for the ride-hailing industry remains high.

In early June, DiDi successfully listed on Nasdaq.

There was no promotion, and even on the first day of listing, domestic media did not report it.

News emerged on the second day, but only on a small scale.

Upon learning this, Li Yang frowned.

He gave Jiang Baichuan a call: "DiDi went public. You should know the new rules over there on US Stocks; what needs to be done to get listed."

Jiang Baichuan replied: "I know, but I’ve been swamped, who knew they’d move so fast."

"Ha, I told you months ago, right? Busy for months and couldn’t keep up?"

"This..."

Jiang Baichuan was speechless.

The main reason was simple: he wasn’t in charge of it.

All he could do was mention it to someone, asking them to keep an eye on it and pay attention.

Although coming from someone of Jiang Baichuan’s stature, it would undoubtedly be taken seriously, but DiDi is a super-large group, with millions of drivers and billions in revenue. How can it be investigated without evidence?

Thus, the matter was ignored.

The domestic business environment is arguably the most lenient globally, especially for companies slightly involving foreign capital, many green lights.

Of course, this leniency is relative only to big enterprises, making operations straightforward.

Opening a store in small cities might be more taxing, but such places will decrease, as the internet reaches every household.

"Alright, alright, let’s say I never mentioned it. Hanging up!"

Li Yang knew this wasn’t Jiang Baichuan’s fault, but he was just upset.

The information had leaked out.

DiDi has a whopping 120 million registered users, with over 6 million using the ride-hailing app daily. Many influential people live a low-key life, often taking taxis, their data certainly recorded.

After hanging up on Jiang Baichuan, Li Yang called the general manager of Rapid Taxi.

"Deploy 3,000 more cars in Capital City, recruit drivers quickly, and complete within three months."

User retention for Rapid Taxi is very high, with nearly 10 million registered users and over 800,000 orders per day. If calculated by DiDi’s scale, order volume may double.

Li Yang plans to capture the Capital City market!

...

After being ridiculed by Li Yang, Jiang Baichuan directly called the internet department.

"Buddy, when I mentioned DiDi before, you didn’t take it to heart, did you?"

"Huh? Why would you say that, Jiang?"

"They’ve now listed on Nasdaq, and you’ve heard nothing? Do you know what listing on Nasdaq means? It means they’ve packed all their data and handed it over to the United States."

"What!"

...

On the third day after DiDi’s listing, the matter completely exploded.

The main thing was a piece of news: the internet office directly stationed itself at DiDi headquarters, investigating related issues with DiDi.

Previously lacking evidence, now listing is the biggest evidence.

Moreover, Kuai Pai actively guided the matter, directly trending it.

Kuai Pai’s current traffic is the top in the country, even surpassing WeChat.

As for Douyin and Kuaishou, they aren’t even comparable.

Though still top platforms, with daily active users from 80 million to 120 million, Kuai Pai has over 200 million daily active users.

Kuai Pai’s quality content is a tool to attract users.

Endless short dramas serve as the best entertainment platform for middle-aged and elderly people.

Under the lead of several science bloggers, many understand the significance of DiDi’s listing, and instantly, DiDi’s reputation crumbled.

There’s even a trend online advocating for uninstalling DiDi.

This time, the internet office’s efficiency was extremely high, as Jiang Baichuan had mentioned months before, but they didn’t pay real attention, resulting in this mess.

If efficiency were any slower, responsible authorities would have to face the consequences.