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General Motors' autonomous cars are exploding … in a good way.
The automaker announced Tuesday the completion of a $ 1.15 billion investment cycle in its auto subsidiary, GM Cruise LLC, which valued the company at $ 19 billion. , more than a third of GM's market capitalization.
GM would have paid $ 1 billion or less in 2016 to take over the start-up technology company, which had received a $ 2.75 billion investment from Honda in October and a total of $ 7.25 billion from various sources in last year.
Honda has proposed a more futuristic version of the autonomous car.
(Honda)
The company is currently focusing on developing a standalone version of the Chevrolet Bolt electric car, which will initially be deployed as part of a hasty driving program.
"Developing and deploying large-scale autonomous vehicles is the technical challenge of our generation," Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said in a statement announcing the news.
"Having significant resources to support our mission is a critical competitive advantage."
Cruise is currently testing vehicles on the road in California, which it plans to use commercially by the end of 2019. It is expected to compete with the similar efforts of Waymo, Uber and Tesla. The company has asked the federal government to allow it to deploy cars without a steering wheel or brake, but has not yet been authorized to do so.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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