Alibaba’s and China's Largest Car Co. Set Up $160 Mil. Fund for 'Connected' Vehicles (BABA)

From the WSJ's Digits blog:

Alibaba is hitting the road.

SAIC Motor, China’s largest car maker by sales, and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding jointly set up a 1 billion yuan ($160 million) fund to develop Internet-connected cars, the companies said in a notice dated Wednesday. The deal puts Alibaba in group that includes Google, Apple, Baidu and other technology companies looking for a presence behind the wheel.

The fund will open to other investors and carmakers that are interested in Internet-connected vehicles, SAIC said in a statement posted on its website.
Alibaba said it will develop new services “using cloud computing and big data that enhances consumers’ driving experience.”

SAIC didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The fund is the first significant step forward by the two parties since they formed an alliance in July to build an integrated system that will allow cars to communicate with each other, the road and pedestrians. At the time, the two didn’t disclose the size of the funding.

China is the world’s largest car market in terms of sales. The country sold nearly 20 million passenger vehicles last year.

The partnership between SAIC and Alibaba follows similar joint efforts abroad. Apple has partnerships with more than 20 car makers, including Volvo and BMW, to extend its iOS mobile operating system to the dashboard with CarPlay. Google has similar cooperation with carmakers including Audi AG and Ford Motor Co. SAIC has partnerships with Volkswagen and General Motors....