Southeast Asian Grab gets funded by Toyota

MANILA: Toyota has officially announced the investment of $1 billion in a Southeast Asian ride-hailing company called Grab. This has been made to strengthen the alliance between Toyota and Grab which started a year ago when Grab joined hands with a subsidiary of Toyota, The Connected Company. Now with a handsome investment from the parent company, the alliance between the two is expected to get better and better with time.

Post investment, data transmission TransLog driving recorders were fitted inside a few select cars for an enhanced experience for both riders and drivers. As per the agreement, Toyota will appoint an executive to be the member of Grab’s Board of Directors. Additionally, there will be a dedicated Toyota team member in Grab as an executive officer. Also, Toyota will be liable to make necessary personnel changes in future.

Shigeki Tomoyama, the executive vice president of Toyota and the president of The Connected Company said, “I am delighted that we are strengthening our collaboration, which utilizes Toyota's connected technologies, with Grab, Southeast Asia's leading ride-hailing company. Going forward, together with Grab, we will develop services that are more attractive, safe and secure for our customers in Southeast Asia.”

Both the companies will dedicatedly work towards developing and enhancing mobility services solutions and ‘Mobility as a Service’ (MaaS) vehicles.

Anthony Tan, the co-founder, and CEO of Grab said, "We are thrilled to have Toyota onboard as a long-term, strategic partner of Grab. Toyota is an incredible company that has done so much for the world. This strong partnership will enable us to become the one-stop mobility platform in Southeast Asia. We look forward to executing the same vision of the future. A future that will provide for safer and more affordable rides, more liveable cities, and millions of new micro businesses in the digital revolution. We will continue to work with global leaders like Toyota in bringing this vision to pass.”