Race for self- driven cars enters fast lane

SoftBank Group to invest $ 2.25 billion in General Motors’ subsidiary

Bengaluru, May 31: In a landmark deal that could accelerate wide- scale deployment of self- driving cars, General Motors said on Thursday that Japan’s SoftBank Group will invest $ 2.25 billion in GM Cruise Holdings LLC, the carmaker’s autonomous vehicle unit.

GM shares jumped more than 10 per cent in premarket trade.

It is one of the largest investments to date in selfdriving cars. In a media briefing early on Thursday at GM headquarters in Detroit, President Dan Ammann said the investment by SoftBank’s $ 100billion Vision Fund will enable GM to deploy selfdriving vehicles “at massive scale.”

CEO Mary Barra said the company is still “on track” to begin deploying its Cruise AVs in commercial ride sharing fleets in 2019.

GM will also invest $ 1.1 billion in the unit after the deal closes, the company said. SoftBank Vision Fund will own a 19.6 per cent stake in GM Cruise once the transaction is completed.

The partners agreed not to cash out their investments in Cruise for at least seven years, said Michael Ronen, managing partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers.

Barra sidestepped a question about whether GM intends to spin off GM Cruise Holdings as a separate entity, saying GM would “do what’s best for shareholders.”

Ronen soft- pedaled a related question about whether SoftBank intends to consolidate its massive investments in some of the world’s largest ride services companies, including Uber, Didi, Ola and Grab, saying such a decision would be up to each company.

GM holds a sizable stake in Uber rival Lyft.

The SoftBank investment comes at a time when rivals Tesla Inc, Alphabet’s Waymo and Uber are stepping up efforts to gain the firstmover advantage in the autonomous vehicle market.