MEXICO CITY – Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike entered the Latin American market in Mexico City this year drawn by its millions of potential clients.…
MEXICO CITY – Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike entered the Latin American market in Mexico City this year drawn by its millions of potential clients. Now it has run into a problem increasingly plaguing the country: street crime.
Theft has been so widespread that in the past few days, dozens of the app’s customers have complained on social media about the lack of available bicycles. Many of them told Reuters they are thinking hard about switching to the competition.
Mobike, the largest bike-sharing company in the world, said shortages were due to theft as well as growing demand for the 500 bicycles available in a small part of the capital while it awaits clearance from city authorities to expand further.
Mobike has been working with law enforcement agencies in Mexico City to recover the stolen bicycles, said Rene Ojeda, director of the Mexican arm of the Beijing-based company.
Since it entered the Mexican market in mid-February, Mobike subscriptions have risen by 70 percent per week, he said.
But the Chinese company faces stiff competition in the capital. Mexican VBike operates with some 2,000 bicycles and EcoBici, a bike-sharing firm launched by Mexico City’s government, has 6,500 units and more than 260,000 users.
