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| Toyota is moving towards developing automated taxis |
Toyota has partnered with startup electric car maker Aurora and auto parts maker Denso to develop self-driving taxis.
Toyota Motor surpassed Volkswagen sales in 2020 and regained its position as the world's largest automaker.
The collaboration is a great opportunity for Aurora, as Toyota is one of the few automakers that has yet to engage with self-driving cars.
In addition, Denso emerged from Toyota in the mid-twentieth century and is one of the largest auto suppliers in the world. As a result, Aurora now competes with the larger companies.
The two companies plan to start with Toyota Sienna minivans to develop and test automated taxis equipped with Aurora's autonomous equipment and software package.
By the end of 2021, the companies said, we plan to design, build and test the first Toyota Sienna fleet near the development area.
Upon completion of testing, the company began mass production of automated vehicle assembly taxis on a large scale.
After taking over Uber's self-driving car division late last year, Aurora has recently increased the number of engineers.
The startup has already offered three-quarters of the jobs through ATG, a tour-sharing company headquartered in Pittsburgh and Toronto.
Toyota has largely kept its self-driving cars a secret, and while it has released information about its experimental vehicles and the types of sensors used, not many cars have appeared in operation.
The Japanese company planned to introduce a restricted traffic guide for automatic turnout during the 2020 Summer Olympics in central Tokyo, but has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The automaker recently invested $ 400 million in Pony.ai, a startup based in the United States and China.
Toyota has developed an autonomous driving program called Chauffeur, so the program focuses on complete autonomy, be it in all environments or to a limited extent. Humans are basically not in the leadership equation.
Toyota also introduces a second product called Guardian, which is essentially an advanced driver assistance system that is similar to Tesla's autopilot.
The Toyota Research Institute is conducting tests in Lake Ottawa, Michigan, which has been closed for several years.
Toyota agreed to invest $ 500 million in a self-driving joint venture with Uber in 2018. However, because Aurora holds the remaining stake in Uber's self-driving car division, the investment is not yet available.