Ford Hives Off Self-Driving Operations

The move follows rival General Motors Co.'s GM -7.15% disclosure last month that Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. 9984 -0.29% would invest $2.2 billion in GM Cruise, the auto giant's driverless-car business. That deal--which gave SoftBank a 19.6% stake in GM Cruise, valuing the company at $11.5 billion--allows GM to pursue a driverless-car strategy without siphoning as much capital away from its core vehicle-manufacturing business. For years, the Detroit auto makers have struggled to lift their stock prices, despite record or near-record profits and driverless-car programs that some analysts view as rivaling those of tech giants, like Waymo, Google parent Alphabet Inc.'s autonomous-vehicle unit. Meanwhile, such Silicon Valley companies as electric-car maker Tesla Inc. and ride-sharing provider Uber Technologies Inc. have matched or exceeded the car companies' valuations despite losing money. Ford's new company could be a "precursor to outside investment and unlocking value" from the car maker's autonomous efforts, RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a research note.