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Jaguar Land Rover gives Lyft $25M and a fleet of cars

Lyft recently raised $600 million in a massive funding round, and now we know that $25 million of that came from Jaguar Land Rover, via its mobility services subsidiary InMotion. The car maker's investment in Lyft goes beyond just funds, however; it's providing Lyft drivers with a fleet of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles as part of the tie-up, and it's also going to work with the ride-hailing tech company on autonomous vehicle testing. This is yet another high-profile partner for Lyft after a spate of recent new collaborators, including Waymo and, just last week, Nutonomy. Now, Jaguar Land Rover is also joining the company's Open Platform for autonomous cars: The collaboration with InMotion will see the Jaguar Land Rover-owned company "develop and test its mobility services, including autonomous vehicles" using Lyft's platform. Lyft's ability to rapidly bring on a lot of partners in the car maker space, specifically around autonomy, may have a lot to do with rival Uber's ongoing problems, which now also include mounting calls for CEO Travis Kalanick to step back, at least temporarily, from his leadership role. Lyft has also been pretty clear about seeking to partner on autonomy, rather than pursue its own tech, which is likewise different from Uber's current approach. Uber, too, has brought automakers to the table around self-driving services and making use of its ride hailing platform for mobility service offerings. Both Uber and Lyft seem interested in being the layer that connects riders and these future services, and for automakers, it means leaving a complex and challenging part of the picture to partners with experience and expertise, rather than having to spin up that part of the tech business themselves. The fleet provision in the deal is also interesting, and suggests the partnership between the two could involve more strategic cooperative service offerings ahead of the advent of commercial self-driving tech. Lyft gaining more ground among automakers beyond longtime partner GM also explains why it was reported that the ride hailing company turned down overtures regarding a potential acquisition by the Detroit-based automaker.Written by Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch.Related Video:

All of the Bond cars of 'No Time To Die' (caution for spoilers)

Note: The following overview of the cars in No Time To Die contains spoilers. Read at your own risk, or come back after seeing the film to make sure you caught everything.   No Time To Die picks up right around where Spectre leaves us. James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) are driving along in Bond’s restored and iconic DB5 in Matera, Italy. Things donÂ’t stay all that cheery for long in picturesque Matera, though. As is tradition in Bond films, the first car chase hits us with an explosion of action in what's a super-long opening scene. Fourth-gen Maserati Quattroporte: The baddies in the beginning are driving a Maserati and chasing after Bond in the DB5. Specifically, theyÂ’re in a fourth-gen Quattroporte, which feels right for a chase scene in Italy. Its squared-off looks are mean enough, and its Italian growl is a good background soundtrack to the DB5Â’s inline-six. In addition to the Quattroporte, the chase scene in Matera is home to a couple of the best stunts of the entire movie, including the arch jump done with a Triumph motorcycle seen in trailers — Matera is extremely hilly. Eventually, Bond and Swann find themselves in the DB5 again together, which is where the famous gatling gun scene from the trailer commences, but not before the bulletproof windows and body of the DB5 are thoroughly tested. RIP to the first-gen Range Rover Classics and Jaguar XFs that joined the Maserati in pursuit of Bond (here's a list of other Bond cars over the years). As the DB5 escape scene concludes, we catch a glimpse of what appears to be a Ferrari from the 1970s. However, the view was far enough away that weÂ’ll need a second look to be sure of the exact model. Land Rover Series III: Next time we see Bond, heÂ’s fishing in Jamaica and driving around a blue Land Rover Series III. ItÂ’s yet another of the many Land Rover products featured throughout the film, and unlike most of BondÂ’s Aston Martins, this one doesnÂ’t seem to have any unique features. The other intriguing vehicle out of Jamaica? An old Chevrolet Bel-Air expertly and effectively piloted by Bond newcomer, Ana de Armas. Next up, we get a few shots of the new and still-not-for-sale Aston Martin Valhalla mid-engine supercar (also seen in trailers). BondÂ’s old boss M is in the scene which appears to have been shot in some secret wind tunnel of sorts. Much to our dismay, nobody ends up driving the Valhalla in the film. Could it be a teaser for what the next 007Â’s car is?

Jaguar-Land Rover rules out downsizing into new segments

Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) will continue expanding its portfolio of models during the 2020s, but the group confirmed it won't chase volume by branching out into smaller segments like its German rivals. The two brands will instead seek partnerships to generate economies of scale. "We should not and will not drive down into segments just to get economies of scale," said Felix Brautigam, Jaguar-Land Rover's chief commercial officer, in an interview with Autocar. He added the second-generation Range Rover Evoque (pictured) released in 2018 is already a relatively small car. It stretches 172 inches from bumper to bumper and 75 inches from side to side, so it's approximately 4 inches longer and 5 inches wider than the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf. It's about 8 inches taller than the German hatchback, however. While that's small by luxury car standards, Mercedes-Benz and BMW respectively went smaller with their Smart and Mini brands. Audi doesn't have an entry-level sub-brand, but it doesn't need to because it's part of the gigantic Volkswagen Group. Japanese luxury firms like Lexus and Infiniti are also part of bigger companies. Brautigam's comments bury numerous rumors. They confirm Jaguar won't take on the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, the Audi A3, and the BMW 1 Series with a model positioned below the XE, which competes against the C-Class, the A4, and the 3 Series, respectively. They also douse cold water on the born-again Freelander (which ultimately morphed into the LR2 in America), which Land Rover was allegedly developing to slot directly below the aforementioned Evoque. Ironically, JLR might soon have access to platforms capable of underpinning smaller vehicles. Parent company Tata Motors is actively looking for an outside company to link arms with the British brands, according to a separate report. Officials reportedly approached BMW -- which used to own Land Rover, and announced a joint-venture with the group in 2019 -- and Geely, the Chinese giant whose portfolio of brands includes Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, Proton, London Taxi Company, Terrafugia, and half of Smart, plus a sizeable, nearly-10% stake in Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler. Geely told Bloomberg it hasn't heard from Tata or JLR. BMW and Tata remained silent. While a partnership with someone looks likely considering the significant hurdles faced by JLR, its parent company has categorically ruled out selling the duo it purchased from Ford for $2.3 billion in 2008.