Detroit

CHINA's Tencent Holdings Ltd has bought a 5 per cent stake in US electric car maker Tesla Inc for US$1.78 billion, the latest investment by a Chinese Internet company in the potentially lucrative market for self-driving vehicles and related services.

Tencent's investment, revealed in a US regulatory filing, provides Tesla with a deep-pocketed ally as it prepares to launch its mass-market Model 3. Tesla's shares rose 2.7 per cent to US$277.45 on Tuesday, closing in on Ford Motor Co as the second-most-valuable US car company behind General Motors Co.