Lyft, Magna in Deal to Develop Hardware, Software for Self-Driving Cars

The companies plan to produce kits that can be installed on existing cars to enable them to operate autonomously, said Raj Kapoor, Lyft's chief strategy officer. Retrofitting cars, as opposed to building new ones, could help the company produce autonomous vehicles more quickly and inexpensively, he said. The announcement Wednesday adds to Lyft's extensive roster of self-driving-vehicle partners, which includes Ford Motor Co.; General Motors Co.; Alphabet's Waymo; nuTonomy Inc.; Tata Motors Ltd.'s Jaguar Land Rover; and Aptiv PLC, formerly Delphi. That stands in contrast to rival Uber Technologies Inc., which is primarily developing self-driving technology on its own rather than forging partnerships. Lyft's goal is to plug autonomous cars from partners into its network. The Magna deal is Lyft's first involving a large-scale manufacturer, and the kits they develop could be sold to auto makers, ride-hailing networks or even drivers themselves, Lyft said.