Toyota has announced that it is launching a new brand, Kinto, dedicated to offering mobility services to users across Europe.
Toyota said it aims to grow its mobility services offer in addition to conventional private and fleet vehicle sales through a strategy organised around four pillars:
– Use a distinct and dedicated brand to appeal to new categories of mobility users, from individuals to corporate clients as well as cities;
– Increase its share of the full service leasing (FSL) market, which consists of providing multi-brand all-in-one vehicle and services offers to corporate and individual customers;
– Use the power of data and vehicle connectivity to develop and launch services such as car sharing, carpooling, or subscription where viable;
– Prepare to integrate future advances in automated driving to market-test automated mobility-as-a-service transport, for example using the e-Palette concept currently under development at global level.
Dr Johan van Zyl, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, said: “Kinto is part of our strategy to grow our total European business.
“In markets where it can be viable and sustainable, adding mobility services to our conventional business model will allow us to respond to new customer needs and support cities and regions’ emerging mobility requirements.”
In 2018, Toyota started building the foundations necessary to prepare the European organisation to integrate new mobility services into its existing business.
Toyota established two entities, a fleet management company – Toyota Fleet Mobility (TFM), based in Cologne, Germany, and a digital platform company – Toyota Connected Europe (TCE), based in London, UK.
TFM focuses on growing its FSL in the European market. It currently has affiliates present in Spain, France and Italy, and recently acquired Inchcape Fleet Solutions to grow its business in the UK market.
TCE is the European subsidiary of Toyota’s technological enabler and data company. It develops and implements products and services associated with connected vehicle systems, such as Toyota Big Data Centre, as well as services within Toyota’s proprietary Mobility Services Platform.
According to Toyota, the Kinto brand will be used to position the offer as dedicated to new ways to consume mobility.
The new brand’s name is derived from the Japanese word Kintoun or flying nimbus, a cloud which provides on-demand transportation for an animated character in Japan.
Kinto-branded services will be deployed market by market based on viability and sustainability of the business case.
The initial services to be introduced in some European markets include:
– Kinto One: a FSL offer combining vehicle, service, insurance in one monthly payment;
– Kinto Share: a car-sharing service based on a large hybrid vehicle line-up available via a self-service concept, without the running costs;
– Kinto Join: Carpooling, connecting employees who wish to share their daily commute to work;
– Kinto Flex: Subscription-based car leasing, offering increased flexibility and providing premium experience.
Other services are being evaluated, such as ride-hailing and a multi-modal app. The services would feature access via mobile apps and integrated payments.
