Ctrip leads over $100m investment in eHi Auto Services

eHi Auto Services, a Shanghai-based leading car rental company in China, announced on Dec 20 that it has received an investment of over $100 million from Ctrip.com International Ltd, the largest online travel agency in China, and existing investors. Ctrip will become the second largest strategic partner after Enterprise Holdings, which invested in eHi in 2012.

"We are glad that Ctrip, the largest OTA in China, has become our strategic investor and partner through this equity investment," said Ray Zhang, CEO and Founder of eHi Auto Services, China. "There will be many areas eHi and Ctrip may work together on to provide better travel products for Chinese consumer and corporate customers. We are excited this is a comprehensive partnership that will be mutually beneficial for both companies in a fast growing travel industry in China. As car rental has increasingly become an indispensible part of travel needs for Chinese consumer and corporate clients, we feel there are many opportunities for us as well as for Ctrip to make more convenient travel packages for customers."

The travel industry has experienced rapid growth in China in the past few years. According to PhoCusWright's research findings, China leapfrogged Japan as Asia's largest travel market in 2012 at $96.2 billion, with car rental growing the fastest of all segments. This trend is expected to continue as car rental catches on with an emerging cohort of young travelers.

eHi has received funding from Qiming, Ignition, Jafco, New Accesss, CDH, Goldman Sachs and Enterprise in the past several years. Offering services to both corporate clients and consumers, eHi has become one of the leading car rental companies in China. eHi's services span across 80 cities through more than 400 service outlets with a fleet size that exceeds 13,000 vehicles and 100 different vehicle types.