Vehicle manufacturers Isuzu, Suzuki, Subaru, Daihatsu and Mazda have each agreed to invest ¥57m (US$525,000) in Monet Technologies, a smart mobility joint venture by Toyota and Japanese tech developer SoftBank, with each investor receiving a 2% share in the company.
Junichi Miyakawa, president and CEO of Monet, said, “In addition to those with Toyota, Hino and Honda, our new partnerships with Isuzu, Suzuki, Subaru, Daihatsu and Mazda will enable us to acquire data on their vehicles and mobility services for coordination with the Monet platform.
“To build a high-level Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platform for an autonomous driving society, it is essential to integrate a wide number of datasets, and these partnerships will further accelerate our progress.”
Akira Marumoto, president and CEO, representative director, Mazda Motor Corporation, added, “By sharing the experiences and thrills made possible by the fusion of cars and digital tools, Mazda is connecting different types of people with society, and providing a new type of car value – one that conveys the ‘joy of life’ with safety, peace of mind and enrichment. By co-creating together with other Monet participants, Mazda will pursue the possibilities of mobility services that ‘invigorate the mind and body’ to resolve social mobility issues in cities and regions.”
In April 2019, Toyota, Denso Corporation and the SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) invested US$1bn in Uber Technologies’ Advanced Technologies Group (Uber ATG), with the aim of accelerating the development and commercialization of automated ridesharing services.
Toyota had previously invested US$500m in Uber in August 2018, when the two companies announced their intention to bring automated Toyota Sienna-based ridesharing vehicles to the Uber ridesharing network in 2021, leveraging the strengths of Uber ATG’s self-driving technology alongside the Toyota Guardian advanced safety support system.