Toyota Motor and SoftBank will form a IoT venture to develop new transport services targeting self-driving and connected cars market, Reuters reported.
The joint venture called MONET will start with 2 billion yen or $17.5 million in capital. SoftBank will hold a 50.25 percent stake with Toyota owning the rest. The initial target will Japan and global markets will be tapped later.
Honda Motor earlier said it would invest $2.75 billion and take 5.7 percent stake in General Motors’ Cruise self-driving vehicle unit, in which SoftBank is also an investor.
Daimler AG and Renault said they may expand their cooperation to batteries, self-driving vehicles and mobility services.
Toyota and SoftBank do not have any major partnerships in mobility technologies at the moment, although both are developing technologies for self-driving vehicles, car sharing and other services.
Both have investments and partnerships with Uber Technologies and ride-hailing firm Grab, and Didi Chuxing.
Toyota, one of the world’s largest automakers, earlier said it was developing a service called e-Palette with partners such as Amazon.com, Didi, Uber and Pizza Hut. Toyota said it plans to use e-Palette vehicles to ship athletes and guests around during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
SoftBank has its own autonomous vehicle unit, SB Drive, which has been developing self-driving technology for buses.
