President of Toyota Akio Toyoda has recently disclosed news of a new mobility service business alliance alongside a new e-Palette Concept Vehicle which is designed to suit the needs of all future multi-mode transport and business applications.
Toyoda said: “The automobile industry is clearly amid its most dramatic period of change, as technologies such as electrification and connected and automated driving are making significant progress. Toyota remains committed to making ever-better cars. Just as important, we are playing our part to create an ever-better society for the next 100 years and beyond.”
Toyoda explains that this announcement is indicative of a major step forward for Toyota towards sustainable mobility, becoming demonstrative of the company’s “continued expansion beyond traditional cars and trucks to the creation of new values, including services for customers.”
The new e-Palette Alliance will use Toyota’s trademark Mobility Services Platform (MSPF) will be used to develop a suit of connected mobility solutions alongside a purpose-built vehicle. This will include creating a broad-based ecosystem of hardware and software support with the aim of helping companies to utilise advanced mobility technology to provide an improved service to their customers.
Amazon, DiDi, Mazda, Pizza Hut and Uber are just some of the launch partners to get involved in collaborating on vehicle planning, application concepts and vehicle verification activities. Toyota aims to create new and attractive features that can allow partners to improve their value chain as well as customers’ lives.
Likewise, the Alliance will also focus on the development of the new e-Palette Concept Vehicle – a fully automated electric vehicle that is to be scalable and customisable, suitable for a range of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) businesses. This concept reflects one of one of Toyota’s visions for Automated Mobility as a Service (AutonoMaaS) applications and demonstrates Toyota’s existing commitment to partnership and flexibility.
