Uber-rival Beat withdraws from Latin America

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Ride-sharing app Beat is withdrawing from Latin America to focus on its European operations, the company said in a LinkedIn statement on Tuesday.

The startup, which first launched in Greece in 2011 and whose owners included automakers BMW and Mercedes Benz, began operating in Latin America in 2019.

"Due to a clear strategic decision of the shareholders to focus on its core European markets, our shareholders have made the decision to stop investing in the Latin American region, where Beat operates," the statement said.

The company had been hoping to take on heavyweights like Uber and Didi across the continent with a fleet of Tesla electric vehicles, vowing to fill the "green ride-hailing" gap. For those reluctant to pay the premium prices charged for those trips, Beat also offered lower-priced conventional car rides.

Beat, which is owned by the FREE NOW taxi group, also tried to distinguish itself by making part of its driver fleet employees, rather than self-employed workers, according to an early press statement.

In an email to users, Beat said it would cease to operate in Mexico, Argentina and Peru as of November 9th.

(Reporting by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Christian Plumb)

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