Toyota and SoftBank Establish MONET Technologies (Source: Toyota)

In January at CES 2018, Toyota’s President Toyoda announced that Toyota would shift from being an automaker to become a mobility company providing mobility-related services. Following this announcement, the company has made monthly announcements as it accelerates this mobility-focused strategy.

This report details the aims and plans of MONET Technologies Corporation, the new next-generation mobility services company formed by Toyota and SoftBank, with investment and cooperative partnerships with Uber and Grab, and revolutionary changes in Japan’s sales networks.

MONET Technologies Corporation will introduce regional on-demand transportation for sparsely populated areas and corporate-focused shuttle services within 2018 and is working to introduce the Autono-MaaS (note) service utilizing Toyota’s mobility-service-oriented next-generation electric self-driving vehicle e-Palette by mid-2020. Toyota, a world-class car manufacturer, and SoftBank, which is focusing on AI development, are working together to create an entirely new form of mobility (referred to as the Mobility AI revolution).

Toyota is investing USD 500 million in Uber, and is working with the company on joint development of a self-driving mobility vehicle based on the Sienna minivan, and plans to introduce it into Uber’s rideshare network in 2021. Toyota is investing USD 1 billion in Grab and dispatching two officers to further cooperation.

As for domestic sales networks, vendors will begin participating in car-sharing operations, with a transition to offering combined sales of all vehicle types at vendors over the years to come. The company envisions a scenario in which domestic vehicle sales continue to drop, with Toyota’s current sales of 1.6 million vehicles dropping to 1.2 million by 2025. By bolstering their car-sharing business, they expect to be able to maintain domestic sales of 1.5 million vehicles.

(Note) Autono-MaaS is a word coined from the combination of autonomous vehicles and MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service) and refers to Toyota’s mobility service that utilizes autonomous driving vehicles. The vehicle jointly developed with Uber, based on the Sienna, will be the first vehicle.

Related reports:
Toyota's Mobility Strategy: Introducing DCM as standard equipment (August 2018)
Toyota Automated Driving: The Guardian and Chauffeur approaches (March 2018)