In another sign of the way that the auto industry is now shifting away from auto manufacturer dominance and towards parts suppliers, battery suppliers, and on-demand taxi service operators, the auto parts supplier Magna has now reportedly invested $200 million into Lyft.
In relation to this new investment, Magna execs have revealed that the firm will be working with Lyft to manufacture custom-designed self-driving cars, reportedly.
As we reported recently, many institutional investors are now shifting away from auto manufacturers themselves and towards parts and battery suppliers, owing to the expectation that such firms will be the big winner when it comes to the expected mass adoption of self-driving taxis over the next few decades. Many of the world’s top auto manufacturers are now expected by many industry observers to experience a loss of business and market-cap as this occurs.
Reuters provides more about the context of the new investment: “The news comes 3 months after San Francisco-based Lyft made its international debut in Toronto, taking on much bigger rival Uber Technologies Inc, which has been operating in Canada for over 5 years. Several companies including Uber, Tesla Inc, Alphabet Inc, BlackBerry, and traditional automakers such as General Motors have all been investing heavily in self-driving cars and technology.”
The reference above to Lyft’s entry into the Toronto market is relevant because Magna is based out of Canada. The timing isn’t likely to be coincidental.
It’ll be interesting to watch Lyft’s further service expansion over the coming years. How many more investments/tie-ups with parts suppliers and manufacturers can we expect?
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