GM Surges Forward On SoftBank Investment In Autonomous Vehicle Segment

General Motors Company GM Cruise has a little extra fuel in the tank.

The automaker’s autonomous vehicle division secured a $2.25 billion investment from Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund to be coupled with an additional $1.1 billion investment by GM, itself, according to a Thursday announcement.

The transaction will result in SoftBank owning a 19.6-percent equity stake in GM Cruise.

Why It’s Important

The investment now values GM Cruise at $11.5 billion and pushes the segment toward commercializing AV technology at scale in 2019.

"GM has made significant progress toward realizing the dream of completely automated driving to dramatically reduce fatalities, emissions and congestion," Michael Ronen, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said in a press release. "The GM Cruise approach of a fully integrated hardware and software stack gives it a unique competitive advantage. We are very impressed by the advances made by the Cruise and GM teams, and are thrilled to help them lead a historic transformation of the automobile industry."

What’s Next

SoftBank’s investment will be made in two portions: the first $900 million will come at the close of the transaction, and the other $1.35 billion will come when the Cruise AVs are ready for commercial sale. The latter segment is subject to regulatory approval.

GM traded up more than 10 percent to $41.79 in the pre-market session.

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Photo courtesy of GM.