SAIC Motor Corp. is planning a fresh round of fundraising for its mobility service platform Xiangdao Chuxing, according to people familiar with the matter, as it seeks to stay competitive amid shifts in the automotive industry. Shanghai-based SAIC Motor, China’s biggest carmaker which counts Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. as partners, aims to raise as much as 1 billion yuan (US$157 million), one of the people said. The plan, which isn’t finalized, could be announced by the company as soon as this month, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details aren’t public. Founded in 2018, Xiangdao offers ride-hailing and car-rental services. The company said it had 26 million registered customers last year and more than 2,200 corporate clients. Xiangdao’s backers include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Chinese electric-vehicle battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., which both contributed in a 300-million-yuan fundraising round last year. The new fundraising plan comes as Chinese ride-hailing market leader Didi Global Inc. faces pressure from the government after it went through with a US$4.4 billion listing in the United States in June despite pushback from regulators. Other automakers, including Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and China FAW Group Co., are also venturing into mobility services in China, a market estimated to be worth about 228 billion yuan in 2020. Geely’s Cao Cao Mobility raised almost US$600 million in September and has been in talks with investors for another funding round, the unit’s CEO Gong Xin said. (SD-Agencies) | 