I was at a going away party last Friday night with my friends Mary Helen and Stuart. They were moving from a 5-acre country home to a 1/4 acre modern home 1.5 miles away from town. Stuart said this would be his second to the last move in his life. The next move would be into town, where they could take Uber or Lyft wherever they needed to go in town.
When you think of Uber and Lyft, it is a young person catching a ride after a night in the city, but more and more, it is the older person. Older people that might lose the ability to drive are opting for car-sharing just like the millennials. It’s not because they don’t have the money to buy a car, but perhaps because they don’t want to drive in traffic, or at night because they know their limitations. It is also because car-sharing has become so affordable, perhaps more affordable than owning a car.
It is with that fact in mind that Jaguar Land Rover announced that InMotion, Jaguar Land Rover’s mobility services business, a $25m (£19m) investment in Lyft, the fastest-growing rideshare company in the U.S.
This investment will support Lyft’s expansion and technology plans. It will also provide Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures with the opportunity to develop and test its mobility services, including autonomous vehicles, and to supply Lyft drivers with a fleet of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.
Sebastian Peck, InMotion Managing Director, said, “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.”
“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.”
“We’re excited to join forces with Jaguar Land Rover and InMotion,” said John Zimmer, Lyft President, and Co-founder. “Lyft envisions a future where shared mobility will transform cities and improve people’s lives. This partnership will help us achieve that ambitious goal.”
Hanno Kirner, Executive Director of Corporate and Strategy, Jaguar Land Rover, said, “This is a strategic investment for both parties as we focus on innovating new mobility solutions for our customers. Collaborating with an expanding technology business like Lyft is going to help us both accelerate our ambitions.”
InMotion’s latest investment follows its recent seed investment in SPLT, the Detroit-based digital carpool business, which works with Lyft to provide non-emergency medical transport.
The Lyft investment was included as part of the company’s most recent round of fundraising, which closed in April.
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