Toyota Motor Investment Company (TMCI) and GAC Toyota Motor Company (GTMC), have partnered with the autonomous-driving company, Pony.ai, to manufacture a significant number of “fully driverless robotaxis.” The investment for this joint venture totals over $139 million USD, which comes from the Chinese Toyota entities. This collaboration marks an increase in Pony.ai’s funding by around $539 million USD since the year 2020.
In their joint efforts, GTMC and Pony.ai are leveraging Toyota-branded electric vehicles that come equipped with cutting-edge autonomous driving technology developed by Pony.ai. These specially equipped vehicles will be integrated into Pony.ai’s robotaxi network platform known as “PonyPilot+.” This strategic integration will contribute to the advancement of Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities.
The recent financial injection is aimed at providing substantial support to ongoing development initiatives. These include the ongoing public road tests that were initiated in April. These tests feature Toyota’s Sienna Autono-MaaS (S-AM) vehicle, which is outfitted with Pony.ai’s sixth-generation autonomous driving software and hardware system.
The primary goal shared by all parties involved is to establish a dependable and user-friendly robotaxi service for passengers. Alongside this, the joint venture partners have ambitions to expand their current fleet of 200 vehicles, which are currently undergoing rigorous testing across major Chinese cities such as Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.
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