Last Updated on August 28, 2018 by Larious

Japanese auto major, Toyota, and American trip aggregator, Uber, have introduced that they may increase their existing tie-up to collectively develop self-driving vehicles. As a part of the deal, the Japanese automaker is about to invest $500 million within the US tech agency in a deal that values the latter at a whopping $72 billion.

In accordance with a joint press release issued by the 2 firms, self-driving technology from every – Uber’s Autonomous Driving System and Toyota’s ‘Guardian’ automated security support system – shall be built-in into purpose-built Toyota Sienna Minivans that shall be a part of the so-called “Autono-MaaS”(autonomous-mobility as a service) fleet anticipated to be rolled out by the 2 firms.

In a press statement, Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, expressed his satisfaction on the deal, saying that it’s going to assist the company deploy the most secure autonomous vehicles on this planet. In accordance with him, “The deal is the first of its form for Uber, and indicators our dedication to bringing world-class technologies to the Uber community”.

Our goal is to deploy the world’s most secure self-driving vehicles on the Uber community, and this agreement is another vital step in direction of making that a reality. Uber’s superior technology and Toyota’s dedication to security and its renowned manufacturing prowess make this partnership a natural fit. I look forward to seeing what our teams accomplish collectively.

Shigeki Tomoyama, the executive vice president of Toyota Motor Company and president, Toyota Connected Firm, additionally echoed the feelings, saying, “This agreement and funding marks an essential milestone in our transformation to a mobility firm as we assist provide a path for protected and safe growth of mobility providers like ride-sharing that features Toyota automobiles and technologies”.