What Makes America And China Key Territories In Ride-Hailing Wars

Uber and Lyft's head-to-head battle pits two of the most valuable startups in the planet against each other. Making the situation more interesting is the fact that the two companies offer nearly identical services and are both betting their future on autonomous driving. Uber, valued at $68 billion, is the market leader in the ride-hailing market in dozens of countries, Statista's Felix Richter noted. On the other hand, Lyft, valued at $7.5 billion, is limited in reach to just the U.S. market although it happens to be the world's biggest market.

The U.S. ride-hailing market will amount to nearly $12 billion this year but will more than double to $26 billion by 2021, Richter added. Needless to say, both companies have their eye on the big prize of the U.S. market, but that doesn't mean the international market can be neglected.

Total gross bookings in the Chinese ride-hailing market is expected to end the year at around $10 billion which makes it notably bigger than other markets, including the United Kingdom ($1.6 billion), Japan ($1.1 billion) and Germany ($1.1 billion), Statista added.

In fact, the Chinese market by 2021 is expected to be bigger than the U.S. at $26.6 billion, which implies the large market is a key battleground territory. But standing in both Uber and Lyft's way is the local play Didi Chuxing who bought Uber's operations in China last year for a sizeable stake in the newly merged company.

Source: Statista Related Links: Can Uber Make A Profit? You Want That For Hurl Or To Go? Uber Drivers More Concerned With Puking Passengers Than Boardroom Shenanigans