Tuesday 28 August 2018

Toyota to invest $500m in Uber in driverless car partnership

Toyota is investing $500 million (£387.6m) in Uber and has agreed to jointly develop driverless vehicles.

They are expanding their collaboration with the aim of advancing and bringing autonomous ride-sharing to market at scale.

The companies said technology from each firm will be integrated into Toyota's vehicles and deployed on Uber’s ride-sharing network, with pilot trials to start in 2021.

They expect the mass-produced self-driving vehicles to be owned and operated by third party fleet operators.

Shigeki Tomoyama, Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Corporation said: “Combining efforts with Uber, one of the predominant global ride-sharing and automated driving R&D companies, could further advance future mobility.

“This agreement and investment marks an important milestone in our transformation to a mobility company as we help provide a path for a safe and secure expansion of mobility services like ride-sharing that includes Toyota vehicles and technologies.”