As part of the accord announced Monday, Toyota plans to manufacture Sienna minivans loaded with Uber’s software, with testing slated to begin on Uber’s ride-sharing network in 2021.
Toyota’s stake is set to value the ride-hailing company at $72 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the details are private.
The 81-year-old manufacturer is accelerating a push to transform into a mobility-services provider, with Chief Executive Officer Akio Toyoda warning that a once-a-century paradigm shift in the industry has become a life-or-death battle for traditional automakers.
Uber isn’t Toyota’s only investment in a ride-sharing company — it poured $1 billion into Southeast Asia’s Grab earlier this year and has a partnership with China’s Didi Chuxing.
Toyota is also a backer of Japan Taxi, an Uber rival run by the chairman of Tokyo’s biggest taxi operator. Carmakers and technology companies alike are working toward a future where autonomous robo-taxis will lessen the need for individual car ownership. The Toyota City-based company, which initially bought a small stake in Uber in 2016, is spreading its bets far and wide for a shot at these nascent technologies.
Toyoda has said there are “no nautical charts for us to follow” in plotting the course to future mobility.
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