General Motors posts biggest one-day gain since bankruptcy as it invests in driverless cars

General Motors posted their largest one-day gain since bankruptcy

Shares in General Motors posted their largest one-day gain since the company’s rebirth from bankruptcy eight years ago, after Japan’s Softbank decided to pump £1.7billion into its autonomous car unit.

The deal is the largest yet between a technology investment firm and a car maker.

The investment gives Softbank a 20per cent stake in GM Cruise, the company’s San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle unit.

GM said yesterday that it will add £830million to Softbank’s investment to speed large-scale deployment of self-driving robo-taxis next year. 

GM has announced plans to carry passengers in self-driving cars that won’t have a human backup driver from 2019. Shares rocketed 12.9per cent, or $4.87, to $42.70.