Toyota, Uber Team Up to Develop Self-Driving Fleet …Make $500 million Deal

Ronke Kehinde/

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and Uber Technologies Inc. are teaming up to build a fleet of self-driving ride-sharing vehicles.

Highlights:

• Autono-MaaS vehicles Sienna-based
• Fleet to be deployed in 2021
• Competes with Waymo-Chrysler partnership

 

After their initial partnership revealed in May 2016, Toyota and Uber announced they have agreed to expand their partnership even further by building a fleet of self-driving ride-sharing vehicles.

The original agreement, which included a strategic investment in Uber by Toyota Financial Services Corporation and Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership, focused primarily on establishing new services to offer value to ride-sharing customers, including new leasing options on Toyota vehicles for Uber drivers. This extended agreement is aimed at advancing autonomous ride-sharing as a mobility service and bringing that service to market at scale.

Additionally, Toyota announced that it is investing $500 million in Uber.

Organized under the Autono-MaaS banner

The Toyota-Uber collaborative fleet, currently known as “Autono-MaaS” (autonomous-mobility as a service), will initially be based on Toyota’s Sienna minivan platform. Both the Toyota Guardian automated safety support system and Uber’s Autonomous Driving System will be integrated into Autono-MaaS vehicles, along with Toyota’s information infrastructure for connected vehicles, Mobility Services Platform (MSPF). The companies hope to begin pilot deployments of the Autono-MaaS vehicles on the Uber ride-sharing network in 2021.

Toyota and Uber executives both expressed hope that their expanded partnership will be effective at fulfilling the promise of self-driving technology at scale. Unlike the vision of their earlier agreement, which focused on making Toyota vehicles affordable for individual Uber drivers, the newly expanded agreement anticipates that the Autono-MaaS vehicles will be owned and operated by third-party autonomous fleet operators.

From automaker to mobility provider

“Combining efforts with Uber, one of the predominant global ride-sharing and automated driving R&D companies, could further advance future mobility,” said Shigeki Tomoyama, executive vice president, TMC, and president, Toyota Connected Company. “This agreement and investment mark an important milestone in our transformation to a mobility company as we help provide a path for safe and secure expansion of mobility services like ride-sharing that includes Toyota vehicles and technologies.”

“The deal is the first of its kind for Uber, and signals our commitment to bringing world-class technologies to the Uber network,” Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, said. “Our goal is to deploy the world’s safest self-driving cars on the Uber network, and this agreement is another significant step towards making that a reality. Uber’s advanced technology and Toyota’s commitment to safety and its renowned manufacturing prowess make this partnership a natural fit. I look forward to seeing what our teams accomplish together.”

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