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Toyota invests S$1.3 billion in Grab as battle for self-driving technologies heats up

SINGAPORE — Japanese multinational giant Toyota announced on Wednesday (June 13) that it will be investing US$1 billion (S$1.34 billion) in Grab, making it the largest investment globally by an automotive manufacturer in the ride-hailing sector.

SINGAPORE — Japanese multinational giant Toyota announced on Wednesday (June 13) that it will be investing US$1 billion (S$1.34 billion) in Grab, making it the largest investment globally by an automotive manufacturer in the ride-hailing sector.

The latest deal will make Toyota the lead investor in the Grab's ongoing financing round. As part of the deal, both companies will "strengthen and expand" their existing partnerships in connected cars, such as user-based insurance, financing programmes and predictive maintenance.

"Grab and Toyota will roll-out connected car services, such as telematics-based insurance, which may reduce the cost of insurance premiums for safer Grab drivers," the Singapore-based ride-hailing giant said in a statement.

The investment by Toyota will also allow Grab to expand its products in South-east Asia, such as its e-payment service GrabPay and its recently unveiled food delivery service, GrabFood. Grab currently operates in the 217 cities across eight South-east Asian countries.

Grab's president Ming Maa said: "Our rapid user and revenue growth is a testament to our ability to hyper-localise, efficiently execute and provide the highest efficiency platform in a region as diverse as South-east Asia. We are honoured to be supported by industry leaders including Toyota, Uber, Didi and SoftBank."

Mr Shigeki Tomoyama, Toyota's executive vice president and president of Toyota's in-house Connected Car Company, said: "Going forward, together with Grab, we will develop services that are more attractive, safe and secure for our customers in South-east Asia."

The agreement will see one Toyota executive appointed to Grab's board of directors, while a dedicated Toyota team member will be seconded to Grab as an executive officer.

American ride-hailing giant Uber, which recently exited the South-east Asian market in exchange for a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab, also counts Toyota as one of its partners in ride-hailing and development of self-driving systems.

In March this year, Nikkei Asian Review reported that Uber is seeking to supply Toyota with its self-driving systems.

Toyota's latest investment in Grab follows an earlier undisclosed investment in Grab in 2017.

The investment is part of a wider trend by carmakers and ride-hailing companies to collaborate and compete in rolling out autonomous vehicle technologies.

Google affiliate Waymo, which recently concluded a high-profile autonomous vehicle technology lawsuit against Uber, is said to have partnered with British company Jaguar Land Rover and Toyota's rival Honda.

In early 2016, American multinational General Motors invested US$500 million in ride-hailing app Lyft and owns about nine per cent of the latter.

German automaker Volkswagen also has a strategic partnership with ride-hailing company Gett, investing US$300 million in the process.

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