General Motors bought Sidecar, gave Lyft millions, now it’s launching “Maven”
(credit: John F. Martin for General Motors)
On Thursday, General Motors launched a new “personal mobility brand” called Maven, through which the company will try to infiltrate the many ride-on-demand companies that have sprung forth from Silicon Valley. The initial business plan involves a car-sharing service, also called Maven, which will allow people to rent GM vehicles à la Zipcar or City CarShare.
The announcement came shortly after GM announced a $ 500 million investment in Lyft, which it told the public would be used for developing autonomous vehicles as well as to solidify a partnership between the two companies (Lyft will now also allow its drivers to rent GM vehicles if they prefer not to use their own). Then, just two days ago, GM unexpectedly purchased Sidecar, an Uber rival that shut down in December amid intense competition.
“GM is at the forefront of redefining the future of personal mobility,” GM President Dan Ammann said in a statement. Amman went on to say that the automaker’s strategic relationship with Lyft and its decades of work developing GM’s OnStar system would allow Maven “to provide the high level of personalized mobility services our customers expect today and in the future.”
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