Toyota, Honda, Hino steer autonomous driving research

Autonomous driving and mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) technology is set to be boosted by a partnership with SoftBank Corp, Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Co and Hino Motors.

The project is led by SoftBank and Toyota through the joint venture Monet Technologies, while Hino and Honda each plan to invest 249.95 million yen in the company for just under 10% of its shares.

Junichi Miyakawa, president and chief executive of Monet Technologies and representative director and chief technology officer of SoftBank Corp, says the partnership will strengthen autonomous driving research.

“This partnership will allow us to coordinate the vehicle data on passenger and object mobility that Hino collects from its trucks and buses and the data Honda obtains from its mobility services that utilise passenger cars and other vehicles so we can further evolve the Monet platform.

“By integrating these wide and varied datasets, Monet will build an advanced MaaS platform that helps enable an autonomous driving society and realises safe and comfortable mobility services to enrich people’s lives,” Miyakawa says.

Hino president and chief executive Yoshio Shimo says the partnership will help the company fast track new technology.

“As a company dedicated to manufacturing trucks and buses, for many years Hino Motors has supported the transport of people and goods in partnership with transport operators.

“Our role is to create new value by realising the products and services wished for by our customers and society, and we decided that participating in Monet was the best way to further accelerate this endeavor.

“Through this partnership, we will strive to achieve our vision of creating a world where people and goods move freely, safely and efficiently, and a sustainable world that is prosperous and pleasant to live in,” Shimo says.

Honda president and representative director Takahiro Hachigo says MaaS technology has the potential to solve many traffic related problems.

“Through this collaboration with Monet, Honda hopes to realise the more efficient promotion of acquiring users and social acceptance of mobility services.

“Honda wants to contribute to the revitalisation of the mobility service industry in Japan and solve traffic-related problems facing Japanese society,” Hachigo says.