SAN FRANCISCO: Toyota Motor Corp. said it would invest in on-demand ride-hailing company Uber, the latest in a wave of high-profile moves by automakers to embrace their potential upstart rivals as partners, customers and sources of valuable data.
The strategic alliance between the Japanese car maker and Uber Technologies Inc. will begin with flexible vehicle leasing terms for Uber drivers but the two also plan to exchange knowledge and work together to accelerate their research efforts.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal is expected to help Toyota keep tabs on ride-hailing markets worldwide and has the potential to help it strengthen its position in China, where it lags Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co.
“Thinking of it in a China context is important because that’s probably the fastest growing ride hailing market in the world. For Toyota to have a piece of that would be significant,” said James Chao, Asia Pacific head for IHS Automotive.
The recent flurry of deals also reflects the desire of automakers to avoid becoming bystanders if a significant number of consumers around the world choose to forego vehicle ownership and buy transportation by the mile or the minute.
Although Toyota and Uber did not offer much in the way of details on potential areas for research collaboration, both are researching self-driving cars as well as “mobility solutions” that allow travelers to seamlessly connect to different modes of transportation through apps.
In other deals, GM invested $500 million in Lyft, Uber’s main US rival, this year while Volkswagen also announced on Tuesday a $300 million investment in Gett, a smaller ride-sharing company.
This month Apple Inc. got into the game, investing $1 billion in China’s top ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing.
Toyota, Uber latest to join forces in ride-hailing rush
Toyota, Uber latest to join forces in ride-hailing rush
