SAN FRANCISCO and TOKYO :
Toyota, DENSO and the SoftBank Vision
Fund (SVF) announced today that they will invest $1 billion in Uber Technologies
Inc.’s Advanced Technologies Group (Uber ATG). The investment, in a newly
formed ATG corporate entity, aims to accelerate the development and
commercialization of automated ridesharing services ...
Under the terms, Toyota
and DENSO will together invest $667 million and SVF will invest $333 million,
valuing the new Uber ATG entity at $7.25 billion on a post-money basis.
Toyota invested $500
million in Uber in August 2018, when the two companies announced their
intention to bring pilot-scale deployments of 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.
Today’s further
investment and expanded partnership builds upon the progress made to date,
deepening the companies’ collaboration in designing and developing
next-generation autonomous vehicle hardware. It will also prepare the companies
and industry for mass production and commercialization of automated ridesharing
vehicles and services. Toyota will also contribute up to an additional $300
million over the next three years to help cover the costs related to these
activities.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO
of Uber, said, “This investment and our strong partnership with the Toyota
Group are a testament to the incredible work of our ATG team to date, and the
exciting future ahead for this important project, alongside great partners. The
development of automated driving technology will transform transportation as we
know it, making our streets safer and our cities more livable. Today’s
announcement, along with our ongoing OEM and supplier relationships, will help
maintain Uber’s position at the forefront of that transformation.”
Shigeki Tomoyama, Toyota
executive vice president and president of Toyota’s in-house Connected Company
stated that, “Toyota is dedicated to realizing a safe and secure future
mobility society. Leveraging the strengths of Uber ATG’s autonomous vehicle
technology and service network and the Toyota Group’s vehicle control system
technology, mass-production capability, and advanced safety support systems,
such as Toyota Guardian™, will enable us to commercialize safer, lower cost
automated ridesharing vehicles and services. We believe that the combined work
of Toyota, DENSO, and Uber ATG on developing next-generation autonomous vehicle
hardware will accelerate the timeline for and early success of automated
ridesharing services.”
Hiroyuki Wakabayashi,
executive vice president of DENSO said, “Among the biggest challenges facing
automated driving, most lie in how to implement both the hardware and the software
at scale. DENSO, as a global automotive supplier, is excited to collaborate
with Uber ATG and Toyota to develop advanced automated driving hardware that we
believe will transform future mobility.”
Rajeev Misra, CEO of the
SoftBank Vision Fund said, “The team at Uber ATG has made significant progress
developing highly robust automated ridesharing technology. With a comprehensive
platform of hardware and software, the largest global ridesharing network and
Toyota’s partnership, this collaboration is well-positioned to deploy automated
ridesharing services at scale.” .. The transaction is expected to close in Q3
of calendar year 2019.
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