General Motors invests $300m into Chinese self-driving car startup Momenta
US automotive giant General Motors has revealed its plans to invest $300 million into Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Momenta as part of the company's plans to shift technologies towards self-driving cars.
GM, an automobile company with a return on equity forecast to be high in 3 years (20.04%), has been looking to break ground within the self-driving car market, having announced back in May about its intentions to bring about autonomous models by the end of the decade.
Read more: China's WeRide develops autonomous vans
The group has also been working to increase domestic lithium battery production as part of plans to boost electrification in the automotive sector.
China is currently the world's largest auto market and is expected to play a large role in both the future of electric vehicles as well as autonomous vehicles.
Momenta is one of the few companies in the country with access to high-definition maps - which are essential in autonomous driving to understand potential routes.
The startup is currently working with key automakers to mass-produce self-driving tech.
Aside from GM, Momenta has also partnered with Daimler, SAIC, and Toyota.
"Customers in China are embracing electrification and advanced self-driving technology faster than anywhere else in the world," Julian Blissett, GM China's CEO said in a statement. "The agreement between GM and Momenta will accelerate our deployment of next-generation solutions tailor-made for consumers in China."
One advantage of self-driving cars is, supposedly, a significant reduction in crashes. As many as 94% of crashes could be down to human error, according to one report.
GM's blueprint lays out an idea for a world where with "zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion", the company revealed.
The automaker is planning on investing $35 billion into electric vehicles and self-driving cars between 2020 and 2025 globally.
Other automakers have also made investments into autonomous vehicle tech, with many considering it to be the future of mobility.
Read more: VW and Microsoft team up for self-driving cars
Many are investing billions of dollars, with the hope to break into this burgeoning market.
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