Lyft to raise competition with Uber by expanding internationally
Lyft is planning to increase its rivalry with Uber by expanding internationally. An unnamed source told CNBC that the company will announce plans later in the year, however, Lyft declined to comment. At present, the ride-hail firm only competes with Uber internationally through partnerships with Didi Chuxing in China, Ola in India and Grab in SE Asia. However, over coming weeks, Didi or Grab users in the US will receive a message asking them to download the Lyft app and vice versa for Lyft users in China and SE Asia.
San Francisco-based transportation network Lyft is planning to expand internationally in a bid to take on transportation giant Uber on a larger scale.



According to CNBC, a source says that the US’s second largest ride-hailing company will reveal its plans later in the year – though Lyft itself declined to comment on the revelation.



Currently, Lyft only competes with Uber internationally through its partnerships with other countries' ride-hailing services. In 2015, it joined forces with Didi Chuxing, formerly Didi Kuaidi, in China – a move that enables Lyft users to book a Didi car through the Lyft app in China, and vice versa. In the same year, Lyft entered similar partnerships with Ola in India and Grab in Southeast Asia.



However, the nature of these partnerships is set to change in the coming weeks – with Didi or Grab users, who open their apps in the US, receiving a message asking them to download Lyft, and vice versa for Lyft users in China or Southeast Asia.



"Along with our international partners, we are updating how we serve our users traveling abroad,” Lyft told CNBC. “We will now direct them to download the partner's app in the country they are visiting."