Drivers for ride-hailing app Lyft will no longer face the imperative of owning a car under a rental program launched on Monday with General Motors Co.

The initiative is the first to come out of a two-month-old partnership between the automotive giant and ride service upstart, and is Lyft's latest move to get more drivers on its app as it continues to trail ride-hailing behemoth Uber. To kick off the program, GM will provide a fleet of 125 Chevrolet Equinox cars to drivers in Chicago by the end of the month, the companies said.

"We have now made car ownership optional on both sides of the market," said Lyft President and co-founder John Zimmer. Passengers don't need to own a car if they use Lyft, he said, and now drivers do not need to own a car to work for it. Drivers can rent the cars for up to eight weeks. Depending on how many rides drivers complete, the cost will range from $99 a week plus 20 cents per mile to free for drivers who complete at least 65 trips a week, Zimmer said.