Will Uber and Volvo roll out a fully autonomous car next year?

Uber has scooped its second automotive partner, announcing on Thursday that Volvo will build a fully autonomous car for the ride-sharing giant’s Pittsburgh fleet.

The partnership includes a $300 million investment from both parties into the development of the autonomous car.

Volvo will use the PSA chassis to build the autonomous car, which is used in the XC90, S90, and V90. From there, Uber will import its self-driving system and ride hailing platform, to make it a fully autonomous taxi.

The most interesting detail is the timeline, Uber says the Volvo cars will appear in the company’s commercial fleet by late August. Customers that enter into the autonomous vehicle will receive a free ride.

If you are in Pittsburgh, you won’t be able to request a self-driving car, but a lucky few will get the chance to ride in it. We assume that an Uber representative will be inside, to avoid even more regulatory issues.

Uber could provide Volvo with a strong market in the future, if we move from car ownership to ride-hailing as the main source of transportation. Volvo doesn’t appear too phased by the deal, stating that its own self-driving division is still active.

Volvo and Uber follow Ford’s big news

The news comes on the same day Ford CEO Mark Fields set a 2021 target date for the company’s first fully autonomous vehicle. Fields said the car would not have a steering wheel or any pedals.

If Uber is able to get a driverless car on the road in any capacity by the end of the year, that 2021 date may be too late. Tesla has also hinted at a fully autonomous system coming to the Model S, X, and 3 far before 2020, which may put regular automotive firms to shame.

Volvo is the second to partner with Uber, following a Hyundai partnership in South Korea. More automotive firms may follow; Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said that he would like to partner with Uber and Amazon on self-driving cars, after partnering with Google.

The Uber of China is reportedly worth $28 billion

Didi Chuxing has raised $4.5 billion in a round of funding that values it at close to $28 billion, according to people familiar with the situation, giving China’s leading ride-sharing company more firepower to battle Uber Technologies Inc.

Didi’s newly earned valuation would make it the world’s third-largest privately backed young company, surpassing Airbnb Inc. Didi was valued at $16.5 billion last year. It closed its latest round of funding with the help of Apple Inc. and prominent Chinese investors, including the nation’s top life insurer, according to the people, who didn’t want to be identified because the deal is private. 

The Beijing-based company also snagged a $2.5 billion debt package from China Merchants Bank Co. on top of the fundraising, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier, citing a person familiar with the matter. Didi declined to comment via e-mail Wednesday.

Didi, which has formed a global coalition with Lyft Inc. in the U.S., India’s Ola and Southeast Asia’s Grab, is trying to fend off an aggressive charge by Uber onto its home turf. Both companies are amassing cash and spending aggressively to expand in the world’s second-largest economy, partly by subsidizing the costs of rides.

Backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. — China’s two most valuable technology companies — Didi is targeting an initial public offering in New York next year, people familiar with the matter have said. The timing depends on how the tussle with Uber plays out, the people said.

Uber is spending at least $1 billion a year in China and has raised capital there that, as of January, valued the Chinese operations at $7 billion. It recently raised $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — the single biggest investment in the company to date. That capital infusion brought the total of Uber’s latest financing round to $5 billion. San Francisco-based Uber, valued at almost $68 billion, is the most valuable closely held company. Xiaomi Corp., at $46 billion, is No. 2, according to data from research firm CB Insights.

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This article originally published at Bloomberg here

Apple invests $1 billion in China's biggest ride-sharing company

Is an iCar showing up on our crystal balls?

It sure looks like it after it was announced on Thursday that Apple has invested $1 billion in China's biggest ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the strategic move was made to help the company better understand the Chinese market, the second largest after the U.S.

"We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market," Cook told Reuters.

The investment comes at a crucial time for Apple seeing it has had a few upsets in the Chinese market in the past few months. On top of flagging sales, Apple was also blocked from selling iBooks and movies in the country.

Didi Chuxing, formerly known as Didi Kuaidi, is the country's most popular ride-sharing service and completes more than 11 million rides a day. Didi also holds several international partnerships with other ride-sharing companies such as Lyft.

In a statement released following the announcement, Cook said that "Didi exemplifies the innovation taking place in the iOS developer community in China" and that Apple was "extremely impressed by the business they've built and their excellent leadership team, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow."

Although no further information was provided on what this spells for both companies, it's worth noting that Apple has in the past year employed many automotive experts. Cook also mentioned that he sees opportunities for both companies to collaborate in the future. 

This is the single largest investment that Didi has received. Previous investors include Alibaba and Tencent.

Apple invests $1 billion in China's biggest ride-sharing company

Is an iCar showing up on our crystal balls?

It sure looks like it after it was announced on Thursday that Apple has invested $1 billion in China's biggest ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the strategic move was made to help the company better understand the Chinese market, the second largest after the U.S.

"We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market," Cook told Reuters.

The investment comes at a crucial time for Apple seeing it has had a few upsets in the Chinese market in the past few months. On top of flagging sales, Apple was also blocked from selling iBooks and movies in the country.

Didi Chuxing, formerly known as Didi Kuaidi, is the country's most popular ride-sharing service and completes more than 11 million rides a day. Didi also holds several international partnerships with other ride-sharing companies such as Lyft.

In a statement released following the announcement, Cook said that "Didi exemplifies the innovation taking place in the iOS developer community in China" and that Apple was "extremely impressed by the business they've built and their excellent leadership team, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow."

Although no further information was provided on what this spells for both companies, it's worth noting that Apple has in the past year employed many automotive experts. Cook also mentioned that he sees opportunities for both companies to collaborate in the future. 

This is the single largest investment that Didi has received. Previous investors include Alibaba and Tencent.