Earlier this week, it was announced that Toyota was investing $500 million into Uber. This is a strategic investment because Toyota wants to work with Uber to accelerate an autonomous on-demand ride-hailing service. Uber will integrate its self-driving technology into Toyota Sienna minivans. And then those minivans will be added to Uber’s ride-hailing platform as part of an “Autono-MaaS” (autonomous-mobility as a service) fleet. And pilot-scale deployments will start being tested on Uber in 2021.
“The deal is the first of its kind for Uber, and signals our commitment to bringing world-class technologies to the Uber network,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a statement. “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.”
Khosrowshahi pointed out that Uber’s advanced technology coupled with Toyota’s safety commitment and “manufacturing prowess” makes the partnership a natural fit.
“Combining efforts with Uber, one of the predominant global ride-sharing and automated driving R&D companies, could further advance future mobility,” added Shigeki Tomoyama, EVP of Toyota and president of Toyota Connected Company. “This agreement and investment marks 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.”
One of the goals of this project is to serve the disabled and an aging population. And another goal is to work on technology for production vehicles that could be switched between assisted driving to fully autonomous.
