- Title: Toyota, Uber latest to join forces in ride-hailing rush
- Date: 25th May 2016
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE-DECEMBER 9, 2014) (REUTERS) CLOSE-UP OF PHONE USING UBER APP
- Embargoed: 9th June 2016 20:30
- Keywords: Uber Toyota car ride-sharing ride-hailing on-demand
- Location: LOS ANGELES AND TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- City: LOS ANGELES AND TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- Country: USA
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA0034JB5R9J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Toyota Motor Corp. said it would invest in on-demand ride-hailing company Uber, the latest in a wave of high-profile moves by automakers to embrace their potential upstart rivals as partners, customers and sources of valuable data.
The strategic alliance between the Japanese car maker and Uber Technologies will begin with flexible vehicle leasing terms for Uber drivers but the two also plan to exchange knowledge and work together to accelerate their research efforts.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal is expected to help Toyota keep tabs on ride-hailing markets worldwide and has the potential to help it strengthen its position in China, where it lags behind Volkswagen and General Motors.
The recent flurry of deals also reflects the desire of automakers to avoid becoming bystanders if a significant number of consumers around the world choose to forego vehicle ownership and buy transportation by the mile or the minute.
Although Toyota and Uber did not offer much in the way of details on potential areas for research collaboration, both are researching self-driving cars as well as "mobility solutions" that allow travelers to seamlessly connect to different modes of transportation through apps. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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