GM invests in Lyft Inc
- January 6, 2016
- Posted by: Simon Wait
- Category: Industry News
General Motors Inc is poised to invest $500 million in Lyft Inc a sign of plans to develop an on-demand network of self-driving cars with the ride-sharing service.
The move is the biggest single investment yet by a traditional vehicle manufacturer in a new mobility company, and is an acknowledgement by GM that the transportation landscape is changing fast. ‘We see the world of mobility changing more in the next five years than it has in the last 50,’ said GM president, Dan Ammann.
The two companies said the partnership was based on the shared view that self-driving cars will first reach consumers as part of a ride-sharing service, rather than vehicles owned by drivers.
The two companies did not set out a timeline to get the on-demand network up and running, but said they would immediately offer Lyft drivers short-term rentals of GM cars.
GM made the investment as part of a $1 billion round of fundraising by Lyft.
Reuters reports that the GM announcement came as Toyota Motor Corp and Ford Motor Co said they would adopt the same software to link smartphone apps to vehicle dashboard screens.
Toyota and Ford, two of the world’s biggest automakers, invited rival car companies to join them to counter the push by Apple, Alphabet, Tesla Motors Inc and others into self-driving cars.
