TOYOTA INVESTS US$500m WITH UBER IN DRIVERLESS-CAR PACT

Japan carmaker to make Sienna minivans equipped with self-driving technology

TOYOTA Motor Corp is expanding an alliance with Uber Technologies Inc through a new investment and a plan to get selfdriving cars on the road.

The Japanese carmaker is investing US$500 million (RM2.05 billion) in Uber, said the companies on Monday.

The deal valued the ride-hailing giant at US$72 billion, said a person familiar with the matter.

As part of the pact, Toyota will manufacture Sienna minivans equipped with Uber’s self-driving technology, and another company will operate the fleet. They had yet to identify the third partner, said the person.

Spokesmen for Uber and Toyota initially declined to comment but later confirmed the news. The Wall Street Journal reported the investment earlier Monday, and details of the driverless-car partnership hadn’t been previously reported.

“Since 2015, we’ve been working to bring safe, reliable selfdriving technology to the Uber network,” said Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, on Monday.

“We knew we couldn’t do it alone, which is why we continue to partner with world-class vehicle manufacturers to make our vision a reality.”

Uber chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi is looking to stabilise the company after a rocky year of corporate scandals and the death of a pedestrian struck by an Uber self-driving car. Over that time, the company’s share price has seen more ups and downs than a typical privately held company.

The deal with Toyota raises Uber’s paper valuation by 15 per cent from the last investment and matches the value of shares given to Alphabet Inc’s Waymo after Uber settled a suit over selfdriving cars.

A group of investors valued Uber at US$62 billion earlier this year.

Uber has developed a threepronged self-driving strategy. For one, Uber purchased Volvos, retrofitted the cars with its selfdriving technology and operates the fleet on its own.

In another, Daimler AG will own and operate its own self-driving cars on Uber’s network. The deal with Toyota becomes a third pillar, where Uber licenses its technology.

Toyota Financial Services Corp has been providing incentives to Uber drivers to purchase the company’s vehicles.

Toyota is also trying to sell Uber fleet-management services based on the rapidly expanding volume of data it’s collecting from connected cars. These services include being able to monitor whether a car is being properly maintained or driven too aggressively.