American Multinational corporation, Automaker General Motors or popularly known as GM has decided to invest a sum of $500 million in Lyft Inc. a ride-sharing service provider alliancing with it to create a network of On-demand Self-Driving cars. Lyft is one of the biggest ride-hailing companies which is fastest growing rideshare company in US and is available in more than 190 cities which, along with GM has announced the joint venture on Monday that involved an investment of $500 by GM. The invested $500M in the company is the part of a round of a $1 billion round of fund-raising.
Dan Ammann, the President of General Motors, said the investment was the indication that from now on GM and Lyft are in it for a long-run. “There’s a huge amount of change in the world of mobility, especially in the urban environment. This investment is important, but more important is the long-term strategic alliance.”, he said.
“Working with GM, we will now unlock new transportation experiences that we think will bring positive changes in our daily lives. Together we will build a better future by redefining traditional car ownership.”, John Zimmer, President and Co-founder of Lyft Inc. said.
The companies have joined their hands together to open and provide a network of US hubs where the Lyft drivers will be renting GM’s vehicles. This has a mutual benefit of expanding not only Lyft’s business by giving their people a way to drive vehicles, who don’t own any, and earn through Lyft app but also give GM a leg up on competitors like Ford Motor Co., who are also developing their own ride-sharing services.
This joint venture will surely be a great add on to their assets and will provide a boost for the companies over their rivals. No doubt these companies cannot afford to lag behind with the equally established competitors like Uber. The venture is very unique as it is the first time that a transportation or a ride sharing company has partnered with a leading auto manufacturer.