Toyota Motor Corp is focusing more efforts on taxis, it is aiming for a large piece of the pie in the future of interconnected transportation. The large car manufacturer in Asia hopes to invest an extra 70 million USD into a cab-hiring app known as Japan Taxi. The app is managed by Kawanabe Ichiro an expert in the taxi industry. The partnership will involve data collect, and collaboration from linked taxi terminals.
The president of Toyota Motor Corp, Akio Toyoda envisages that Toyota has a major role to play in the future of transportation. He believes big data and cloud computing will change the way the industry operates and will provide new income streams during the current technological shift towards automated and electric cars, while he repositions Toyota from being a car manufacturer to a mobility services provider.
The Big question industry analysts are asking is, what is Toyota’s opinion on ride-sharing? Toyota investing in Japan Taxi, draws attention to Uber’s strategy and on-going expansion in the country.
The interesting thing is, Toyota also backs Uber. Toyota made undisclosed investments in Uber in 2016 as part of its partnership into ride-sharing. Toyota has also made previous investments of about 500 million Japanese yen in Japan Taxi via Mirai Creation fund.
Uber has made slow progress in Japan, as it accounts for below 1 percent of taxi rides in Tokyo monthly. Notwithstanding, Uber remain bullish about their prospects in Japan, Taiwan and other Asian countries, this is echoing the sentiments of Brooks Entwistle, Uber’s Asian head.
In the same light, Kawanabe, commonly referred to as the “Taxi Prince”, is trying to ensure that Uber doesn’t make inroads into Japan’s Taxi industry which is currently valued at 1.72 trillion Japanese Yen. Asides being the Head of Japan Taxi, Kawanabe is also the head of the Taxi federation in Japan, and also the head of the biggest taxi company in Tokyo, Nihon Kotsu Co.
Tests are currently being carried out using results from the data-collection devices that were installed in taxis in Tokyo. Data collected include, video and driving information which will make provision for dynamic maps to be constructed. This will go a long way in increasing the rate at which automated driving and other advanced driving features will be adopted.
Toyota hopes to produce autonomous cars that will be ready for use in 2020, and for commercial use in 2025.
Since its release in 2011, Japan Taxi app has recorded over 4 million downloads with 60,000 taxis currently registered on its platform, which translates to about 25 percent of taxis in Japan.
Toyota is also combining resources with Nihon Kotsu to accelerate the usage of “JPN Taxi”, a new model for taxis like the black cabs in London.
Back to question posed earlier, Toyota is invested in Uber while also trying to guard the taxi industry. It feels like they are looking to be present in both worlds.
トヨタ、タクシーアプリへの投資でタクシーの未来に賭ける
アジア最大手の自動車メーカーは、川鍋一朗氏率いるJapan Taxiの運営するタクシーアプリ『全国タクシー』に、さらに75億円を投資。データ収集とタクシーターミナル接続といった面で協力する、と同社は木曜日の声明で述べています。
トヨタの社長である豐田章男氏は、自動車業界の可能性という意味で大きな野心を持っており、将来の輸送における役割としても革新的な視点を誇ります。クラウドコンピューティングとデータは、接続化、自律化、電気化に向けて、1世紀に1度とも言われる転換期を迎え、新たな収益の機会を生み出すと同氏はコメント。豊田氏は、80歳にもなる自動車メーカーをモビリティサービスプロバイダーとして再定義することを目指しているようです。
東海東京調査センターのアナリスト、杉浦誠司氏は、「問題はトヨタがライドシェアリング（相乗り）というシステムをどう考えているかだ。トヨタがJapan Taxiに投資した今、日本ではUberの拡大と戦略が注目されている」と述べています。
これは非常に興味深いもので、トヨタはUberの支援者でもあります。当自動車メーカーは、ライドシェアリング技術の共同開発の一環として、2016年に（金額は未公開）Uberに戦略的投資を実施しました。トヨタのJapan Taxiへの過去の投資としては、昨年、資産管理会社のスパークス・グループと三井住友銀行の支援を受ける未来創生ファンドを通じて、5億円が投じられています。
Uberの市場シェアは、東京での毎月の自動車利用の1％未満となっており、日本ではほとんど進歩を見せていません。それでも、同地域の事業責任者であるブルックス・エンツウィスル氏によると、ライドシェアリングの最大手は、日本、シンガポールなどのアジア地域で拡大が見込まれると語ります。
丰田汽车公司投资叫车软件对赌未来
亚洲最大的汽车制造商日本丰田汽车公司为了在交通的未来发展中发挥更大的作用，向出租车叫车应用程序Japan Taxi投资额外的75亿日元。
丰田汽车去年对Japan Taxi的5亿日元投资是通过未来创投基金完成的，该基金同样由资产管理公司Sparx Group Co.和三井住友银行提供支持。Uber在日本还没有取得多大发展。
去年，丰田开始实验在东京地区500辆出租车上安装数据收集设备。
Japan Taxi的应用程序自2011年推出以来，已经被下载了大约400万次，累计有约6万辆出租车注册，相当于全国出租车的四分之一。
丰田还与日本交通合作，以期加速推动“JPN Taxi”的发展。
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