Skip to main content

Toyota puts $1bn into ride-hailing service Grab

Toyota Motor Corporation is investing $1 billion in Grab Holdings, the Singapore-based ride-hailing platform provider. Grab, which has merged with Uber in south-east Asia, offers services which use a variety of transport modes, from bicycles and shuttle buses to cars and taxis. The companies say Toyota’s investment means they will also “strengthen and expand their existing collaboration in the area of connected cars, to drive the adoption of new mobility solutions across south-east Asia”.
June 15, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
1686 Toyota Motor Corporation is investing $1 billion in Grab Holdings, the Singapore-based ride-hailing platform provider.


Grab, which has merged with Uber in south-east Asia, offers services which use a variety of transport modes, from bicycles and shuttle buses to cars and taxis.

The companies say Toyota’s investment means they will also “strengthen and expand their existing collaboration in the area of connected cars, to drive the adoption of new mobility solutions across south-east Asia”.

Connected car services include telematics-based insurance, which “may reduce the cost of insurance premiums for safer Grab drivers”.

Shigeki Tomoyama, president of Toyota’s in-house Connected Car Company, said: “Going forward, together with Grab, we will develop services that are more attractive, safe and secure for our customers in south-east Asia.”

A Toyota executive will be appointed to Grab’s board of directors and “a dedicated Toyota team member will be seconded to Grab as an executive officer”, the companies added.

Grab’s current services include car and taxi services JustGrab and GrabShare.

It has also introduced GrabAssist, designed for people with limited mobility, with vehicles accommodating foldable wheelchairs, walkers and collapsible scooters.

Grab says its app has been downloaded into over 100 million mobile devices.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Evolving commuters' demands to pave the way for car-sharing business models
    October 5, 2016
    Physical integration of public transit systems with car-sharing will enhance convenience and drive growth opportunities, finds Frost & Sullivan's Mobility Team. Its latest study, Future of Car-sharing Market to 2025, says that with vehicle automation rapidly gaining currency, cars-haring operators (CSOs) are developing novel business models to address the evolving mobility demands of commuters. They will initially offer self-parking services, allowing members to drop off vehicles at designated parking lo
  • An innovation lab – not a burden
    June 27, 2018
    Travellers want to be able to book multimodal journeys easily – and to be informed of problems and alternatives as they go. Adam Roark might just be able to help, finds Ben Spencer. The global shift in transportation towards members of the public wanting access to multimodal journeys is rapidly changing how people pay and plan ahead. Buying tickets from a machine and dealing with the frustration of discovering your train is cancelled is a scenario commuters want to avoid through technology’s ability to
  • Moia’s ride pooling concept plans to replace 1 million cars on roads
    December 6, 2017
    Moia, the mobility startup from Volkswagen Group, has introduced a fully electric six-seated car as part of its ride pooling concept that plans to replace 1 million cars and reduce congestion on major cities in Europe and the USA by 2025. The car, unveiled at TechCrunch in Berlin, will launch in Hamburg at the end of next year. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen Osnabrück planned, developed and built the Moia car, which according to WLTP-standard has a range of more than 300km and can be charged
  • American Center for Mobility appoints Microsoft data and cloud provider
    April 10, 2018
    The American Center for Mobility (ACM) has appointed Microsoft as its exclusive data and cloud provider to help develop connected and automated vehicles (C/AVs) as well as mobility technologies. The facility officially opened in Ypsilanti Township on the 4 April 2018. ACM is part of the PlanetM, a collaboration of private industry, government and institutions of higher learning that aims to change the way people and goods are transported across all modes of transportation. Both partners will design a