Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, said Monday that it invested in the latest round of funding for Transit, a multimodal transportation application company in Montreal. The mobile app is a one-stop shop for more than 175 metropolitan areas around the world, providing users with real-time transportation data. Led by Alliance Ventures, the Series B investment raised over $17 million and accelerates the startup company's mission of helping people reach destinations without using a car, a Transit spokesman said in an email. He said three other investors, InMotion Ventures, Accel and Real Ventures, contributed to the funding. Transit CEO Sam Vermette said in a statement: "New modes of mobility are entering the market at record speeds. It took decades for car-sharing to catch on. Now, e-bikes and scooters are being rolled out in weeks. This is an exciting time, as Transit helps people navigate their new mobility options."
China's top economic planning body is proposing to cut the tax levied on car purchases by half, as the impact of an escalating trade war with the United States threatens to slow the Chinese economy and affect demand for light vehicles, Bloomberg reported Monday. The country’s top economic planning body submitted a plan to key policymakers to lower the purchase tax to 5 percent for passenger vehicles with engines no bigger than 1.6 liters, according to people familiar with the matter. No decision has been made on implementation, Bloomberg reported, citing people who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Reuters reported earlier this month that the China Automobile Dealers Association submitted documents to the country's finance and commerce ministries proposing the 10 percent auto purchase tax be halved.