Toyota, Volkswagen partner with ride-sharing providers
Two automakers this week announced they had formed partnerships with popular ride-sharing providers.
Toyota Financial Services announced a strategic investment in Uber that will allow Uber drivers to lease their vehicles through Toyota and cover their payments through their rideshare earnings.
The Volkswagen Group, meanwhile, said it has made a $300 million investment Gett (formerly GetTaxi).
The leasing offer is part of a newly announced partnership through which Toyota Motor Corp. and Uber are exploring the expansion of ridesharing in countries where the practice is expanding.
“Ridesharing has huge potential in terms of shaping the future of mobility. Through this collaboration with Uber, we would like to explore new ways of delivering secure, convenient and attractive mobility services to customers,” said Shigeki Tomoyama, senior managing officer of Toyota Motor Corp. and president of the Connected Co., one of Toyota Motor Corp.’s recently created in-house companies.
“We’re excited that Toyota, the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, is making a strategic investment in Uber as part of a broader global partnership. Toyota vehicles are among the most popular cars on the Uber platform worldwide and we look forward to collaborating with Toyota in multiple ways going forward, starting with the expansion of our vehicle financing efforts,” said Emil Michael, chief business officer of Uber.
Toyota and Uber also will explore collaboration in a variety of other areas, such as developing in-car apps that support Uber drivers, sharing knowledge and accelerating their respective research efforts, and establishing a special fleet program to sell Toyota and Lexus vehicles to Uber.
Leasing periods will be flexible and based on driver needs. This initiative builds on Uber’s current Vehicle Solutions program, though which drivers can receive discounts on car purchases from a number of automakers.
The leasing offer from Toyota, in concert with Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership, comes on the heels of an Experian Automotive report stating that open leases originated during the first quarter grew by 27.55 percent to an all-time high of $76.9 billion, up from $73.1 billion spotted during the previous year.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s partnership with Gett is based on a joint growth strategy to expand on-demand mobility services in Europe.
Innovative, digitally integrated services covering all aspects of mobility promise very strong growth momentum and huge earnings opportunities in the near future. The ride-hailing market represents the greatest market potential in on-demand mobility, while creating the technological platform for developing tomorrow’s mobility business models. The Volkswagen Group’s goal is to generate a substantial share of sales revenue from such new business models by 2025.
“Alongside our pioneering role in the automotive business, we aim to become a world-leading mobility provider by 2025,” says Matthias Müller, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. “Within the framework of our future Strategy 2025, the partnership with Gett marks the first milestone for the Volkswagen Group on the road to providing integrated mobility solutions that spotlight our customers and their mobility needs.”
“The Volkswagen Group and Gett is a great strategic partnership. The pay-per-ride domain is growing rapidly. In that context, Gett provides VW with the technology to expand beyond car ownership to on-demand mobility for consumers and businesses,” said Shahar Waiser, Gett’s founder and CEO.
The news comes just one month after Volkswagen announced it was planning to launch a legally independent company for the development of mobility services. Gett will be a key partner in that venture.
Through the Gett app consumers can book on-demand rides instantly or pre-book rides for later. In addition to transportation, Gett covers innovative delivery and logistics.