Didi Chuxing to trial Japan premium service with Tesla, Mercedes cars

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Didi Chuxing will trial a premium ride hailing service in Japan offering Tesla <TSLA.O>, Lexus <7203.T> and Mercedes Benz <DAIGn.DE> vehicles, a company representative said.

The ride-hailing firm will roll out a "DiDi Premium" trial later this month in some areas in Tokyo in a move to diversify its operations in Japan, the representative told Reuters via a text message on Tuesday.

It will use premium vehicles including Tesla Model S sedans, Mercedes Benz S-class sedans and Lexus LS series sedans, and Didi hopes to eventually expand it to other major Japanese cities.

Besides Tokyo, Didi offers taxi-hailing services in Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya.

In July, Lexus parent firm Toyota said it would invest $600 million in Didi Chuxing and a new joint venture as the companies seek to develop connected and electric vehicle technologies in China.

Tesla started to take orders for Model 3 vehicles in Japan in May.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; editing by Jason Neely)