$US25m investment in Lyft from JLR

JAGUAR Land Rover (JLR) and its mobility services business InMotion have announced a $US25 million ($A33.11 million) investment in ride-sharing platform Lyft, as well as providing them with a fleet of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.

The technology collaboration will allow InMotion to develop and test its mobility services which include autonomous vehicles, while the investment will allow Lyft to expand and further support its technology plans.

InMotion managing director Sebastian Peck said the partnership would be beneficial to the company’s development process.

“We are excited to collaborate with a leading platform like Lyft not only on developing premium mobility solutions but also devising innovative solutions to the transport problems Jaguar Land Rover’s customers face,” he said.

“Personal mobility and smart transportation is evolving and this new collaborative venture will provide a real-world platform helping us develop our connected and autonomous services.”

InMotion also recently invested in Detroit-based digital carpool business SPLT, which works in collaboration with Lyft to provide non-emergency medical transport.

In January last year, General Motors announced a $US500 million investment in Lyft and other similar companies while introducing its global car-sharing service named Maven.

GM products such as the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt have been designed to be compatible with ride-sharing technologies, a phenomenon that many other manufacturers are investing in.

Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler has invested into Car2Go in North America and Europe, Toyota has taken a financial stage in ride-sharing giant Uber, Volkswagen Group pumped $US300 million into Isreali start-up Gett, and BMW’s iVentures division invested an undisclosed amount into Californian corporate carpooling service Scoop.