Automaker Giant Toyota Has Obtained The Self-Driving Division Of Lyft In A $550 Million Deal
The self-driving group of American ride-hailing company Lyft was acquired by Toyota Motor Corps for $550 million. With this move, the Japanese car company stepped into the technology of self-driving.
The company made an announcement about the acquisition on Tuesday. The company’s subsidiary, Woven Planet Holdings carried out the whole deal. It started doing business in January and its primary job is to invest in innovative technologies such as ‘smart cities’, automated driving, and advanced robotics.
Toyota revealed that they will be paying $200 million right now and the rest of the $350 million will be given to Lyft over a five-year period.
Toyota said that their Woven Planet project is designed to bring engineers and researchers together platform in software and sensor, mobility, and automated driving industry to make big development in the technology.
The chief executive of Woven Planet said, ‘This deal will be key in weaving together the people, resources, and infrastructure that will help us to transform the world we live in through mobility technologies that can bring about a happier, safer future for us all.’
Lyft has signed a commercial agreement with Woven Planet so that the latter can escalate their commercialization of the technology by using the system and fleet data of Lyft.
With this deal, Woven Planet will have the locations such as London, Tokyo, California, and Palo Alto.
The main attraction of Woven Planet is Woven City. It arranged a grand ceremony in Japan very recently, in order to create a community that showcases automated vehicles, smart homes, and different mobility items for Toyota employees and other people.
The person who handles Woven Planet’s investments, George Kellerman said, ‘Woven Planet is driving towards its mission to combine the innovative culture of Silicon Valley with world-renowned Japanese craftsmanship to create the mobility solutions of the future.’
Lyft was established in 2012. It is a ride-sharing app that has a huge rental network. Right now most of the automakers in the world are adapting to new technology that makes the cars smarter, fuel-efficient, and a lot more connected.
Toyota also revealed in their announcement that the company will be working with Suzuki Motor Corp, Daihatsu Motor Co, Subaru Corp, and Mazda Motor Corp to make next-generation communication technologies for cars.
After the economic devastation caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, Toyota is doing its best to revitalize its business by investing in clean technology like electric cars, robotics, fuel cells and hybrids, and many other innovations.
Being an extremely old automaker company, Toyota is facing some difficulties adapting to the advanced technologies compared to the newcomers.
The vice-chairman of HIS Markit, FDanielYergin said, ‘Who will be the economic winners in all of this? Auto companies around the world are girding themselves for the disruption ahead.’
Glenda Bozeman – Business and Services
Glenda Bozeman writes Business articles for industries that want to see their Google search rankings surge. Her articles have appeared in a number of sites. Her articles focus on enlightening with informative Services sector needs. She holds the degree of Masters in Business and Marketing. Before she started writing, she experimented with various professions: computer programming, assistant marker, and others. But her favorite job is writing that she is now doing full-time.
