in uber and gett another car hailing startup volvo has also secured a separate partnership with uber hailo a taxi hailing service sold 60 stake to mercedesbenz owner daimler this julystartup spirit roland folger md ceo mercedesbenz india says daimler is more and more returning to the startup spirit on which the company was built 130 years ago the pactris app was released as an inhouse startup at daimler together with the smart lab which serves as the brands thinktank for quick implementation of creative projects he says on the one hand we are strong in traditional values and on the other hand modern flexible and ready for the challenges of digitisation in 2013 us carmaker ford motor acquired detroitbased livio a software company that provides incar connectivity solutions in september 2016 it announced it is working with four startups in the space of autonomous and connected technology spatial haas alert and cargo bmws venture capital arm bmw iventures has invested in californiabased scoop technologies which offers a smartphonepowered carpooling service some of these tieups could trickle down to their indian subsidiaries usbased auto major general motors is engaged in a number of partnerships with startups particularly in the field of future mobility gm this year acquired a stake in uber rival lyft to launch its own carsharing and mobility ventures under the maven brand and spent over 1 billion to acquire cruise automation a san francisco tech startup that produces sensors and software for selfdriving cars indian automakers meanwhile are looking to innovate beyond partnerships mahindra for example is looking inhouse to kickstart a startup ecosystem mahindras farm equipment sector has forayed into agricultural equipment rental services with the launch of trringo this is expected to significantly increase the reach of farm mechanisation and enable digital empowerment of the farmers of india this venture would be set up as a newage startup company the disruption in the way consumers will access mobility in the future is already happening says tata motors leverton adding that the challenge for automakers is to not only react to this but leverage their significant strengths to innovate and meet future customer demands more than anything we recognise that much of future mobility will be offered as a service