Magna, which is a mobility technology company and automotive supplier, and Lyft have announced a multi-year collaboration in which the companies will “jointly fund, develop, and manufacture self-driving systems.” Magna will also invest $200 million in Lyft equity.

​As a result of the collaboration, Lyft will lead the co-development of the self-driving system at its Palo Alto-based self-driving engineering center; Magna will lead manufacturing and join Lyft's development team onsite, where it will contribute its vehicle systems knowledge, safety and ADAS expertise, and manufacturing capabilities; and Magna and Lyft will share jointly created IP and utilize Lyft data to improve systems. 

Lyft will also use Magna's expansive automotive experience for its fleet's self-driving systems.

“Together with Magna, we will accelerate the introduction of self-driving vehicles by sharing our technology with automotive OEMs worldwide,” says Lyft CEO Logan Green.

“This is an entirely new approach that will democratize access to this transformative technology.”

The partnership, which is described as an industry-first, positions Magna and Lyft to “enable the development and manufacturing of self-driving systems at scale.”

Self-driving vehicles are expected to be deployed on Lyft's ridesharing network in the coming years, but Magna will also have the ability to deploy the technologies across a wide-range of use cases, in an effort to “benefit the entire global mobility ecosystem.”

“There is a new mobility landscape emerging and partnerships like this put us at the forefront of this change,” says Swamy Kotagiri, Magna Chief Technology Officer. 

“Lyft's leadership in ridesharing and Magna's automotive expertise makes this strategic partnership ideal to effect a positive change as a new transportation ecosystem unfolds.”