The partnership is expected to start delivering its services over the coming ten years, first in Japan and then worldwide. SoftBank and Toyota have made various investments in autonomous vehicles and its related technologies. SoftBank’s investments include GM Cruise, the self-driving vehicle division of General Motors (GM), which secured another investor, Honda Motors (HMC), on Wednesday.
SoftBank and Toyota have also made investments and partnerships with cab service providers Uber, Grab and Didi Chuxing. Autonomous cars are generating a lot of interest and they are expected to significantly change the automotive and ride services industries. Several companies have invested in the development of self-driving technologies and other firms continue to enter the space.
For developing driverless vehicles, collaborations are happening recently between the companies within the automobile industry and also in the technology sector. Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Waymo has partnered with Fiat Chrysler, Jaguar and even Walmart (WMT) for self-driving cars and related services. The partnership between two of Japan’s leading companies has very ambitious plans for the future.