DiDi Chuxing Spins Off Robotic-Car Unit
Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi Chuxing Technology Co. has set up its autonomous driving operations as a separate company in a bid to bolster investment in the unit.
Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi Chuxing Technology Co. has set up its autonomous driving operations as a separate company in a bid to bolster investment in the unit.
As a separate entity, the unnamed company will reduce a cash drain on DiDi, while enabling outside backers to directly fund efforts to develop self-driving vehicles, the Financial Times says.
Uber Technologies Inc. made a similar move in April, when it announced the spinoff of its autonomous vehicle systems unit as Advanced Technology Group. That deal attracted $1 billion in new funding from Denso, Softbank and Toyota.
DiDi’s 3-year-old autonomy unit has been testing robotic vehicles in China and the U.S. since early last year. DiDi wants to eventually deploy driverless vehicles for its ride-hailing services, but it hasn’t said when.
RELATED CONTENT
-
GM Is Down with Diesels
General Motors is one company that is clearly embracing the diesel engine.
-
Things to Know About Cam Grinding
By James Gaffney, Product Engineer, Precision Grinding and Patrick D. Redington, Manager, Precision Grinding Business Unit, Norton Company (Worcester, MA)
-
On Electric Pickups, Flying Taxis, and Auto Industry Transformation
Ford goes for vertical integration, DENSO and Honeywell take to the skies, how suppliers feel about their customers, how vehicle customers feel about shopping, and insights from a software exec