GM to Lyft Applicants: Baby, You Can Drive My Car

Old car? Can’t get a driving job? Not a problem.

If you’re looking to drive for the ride-sharing service Lyft in Chicago, General Motors wants to get you into a new Chevrolet Equinox.

Under its Express Drive program, Lyft drivers whose own cars don’t meet the company’s standards can finance an Equinox at a declining rate — starting at a maximum of $99/week — with insurance and maintenance included.

The program, which rolls out later this month in Chicago and will see Lyft drivers pay less for the Equinox the more passenger-carrying trips they make, is expected to be rolled out in other major U.S. cities — including Boston, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore — later this year.

GM said a large demand exists for new vehicles among Lyft drivers, with 60,000 applicants in Chicago alone unable to drive for the service due to the age of their own cars.

“Launching Express Drive is another way we treat drivers better, in addition to Power Driver Bonus, tips and same day payouts,” said Lyft president and co-founder John Zimmer in a statement. “We’re making sure everyone who wants to be a Lyft driver can be, by providing ultimate flexibility at incredible rates.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what General Motors planned to get out of the $500 million it invested in the San Francisco-based Lyft back in January, but the picture’s now becoming clearer. At the time, much of the talk revolved around a future autonomous service where no one drove anyone or anything. Until that vision comes to pass, GM seems pretty happy having regular humans pilot its Chevrolets.

GM president Dan Ammann has said Express Drive will use the mobility software developed for the company’s Maven car-sharing program.