April 28, 2021
WASHINGTON (AFP) – United States (US) ride-hailing service Lyft agreed to sell its autonomous driving division to a unit of Japan’s Toyota for USD550 million, the companies said on Monday.
The move follows a similar divestment from Uber last year, with ride-sharing firms focussing on core operations as they struggle during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Lyft operation known as Level 5 will be folded into Woven Planet Holdings, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, which will create a team of some 1,200 people working on self-driving technology in Japan, the US and Britain.
Lyft will receive some USD550 million in cash, with USD200 million paidup front and USD350 million over five years under the agreement.