Toyota, DENSO and SoftBank Vision Fund to Invest $1 Billion in Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group
April 18 2019 - 8:30PM
Business Wire
Expanded partnership to accelerate
development and deployment of automated ridesharing
services
Toyota Motor Corp. (Toyota), DENSO Corporation (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.
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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.
About Uber
Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We
started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to
a ride at the touch of a button? More than 10 billion trips later,
we're building products to get people closer to where they want to
be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities,
Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.
Today, the team at the Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) is
tackling another challenge: how do you build and deploy safe
self-driving technology at scale? The ATG is comprised of
world-class engineering talent dedicated to vehicle safety,
self-driving software, mapping, and more. Uber is taking a holistic
approach to bringing self-driving vehicles to market through a
variety of partnerships, with the ultimate goal of creating
autonomous ridesharing at scale.
About Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) (NYSE: TM) is the global mobility
company that introduced the Prius hybrid-electric car in 1997 and
the first mass-produced fuel cell sedan, Mirai, in 2014.
Headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, Toyota has been making cars
since 1937. Today, Toyota proudly employs 370,000 employees in
communities around the world. Together, they build around 10
million vehicles per year in 28 countries and regions, from
mainstream cars and premium vehicles to mini-vehicles and
commercial trucks, and sell them in more than 170 countries and
regions under the brands Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino. For more
information, please visit global.toyota.
About DENSO Corporation
DENSO is a $48.1 billion global mobility supplier that develops
advanced technology and components for nearly every vehicle make
and model on the road today. With manufacturing at its core, DENSO
invests in its 220 facilities in 35 countries to produce thermal,
powertrain, mobility, electrification, & electronic systems, to
create jobs that directly change how the world moves. The company’s
170,000+ employees are paving the way to a mobility future that
improves lives, eliminates traffic accidents, and preserves the
environment. Globally headquartered in Kariya, Japan, DENSO spent
8.8 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and
development in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. For more
information about global DENSO, visit
https://www.denso.com/global
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