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

  • Connected car solutions to exceed 350 million by 2017
    May 24, 2012
    OEM and aftermarket connected car systems in use are expected to grow from 66 million in 2012 to 356 million in 2017, according to a new report from ABI Research. While OEM solutions are gaining momentum rapidly across the globe in the US, Europe, Japan, and China, aftermarket solutions will continue to be used for applications such as stolen vehicle tracking, insurance telematics, infotainment, and road user charging.
  • Maven expands peer-to-peer car-share service
    October 30, 2018
    General Motors’ subsidiary Maven is expanding its peer-to-peer car-share option to more US cities. The service – which sees owners renting out their vehicles - is currently available in four urban areas: Ann Arbor, Chicago, Denver and Detroit. But GM says it will now be rolled out in Baltimore, Boston, Jersey City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC by the end of the year. Owners can rent out their GM car, so long as it is registered in 2015 or later, with Maven taking 40% of each rental. Despi
  • ChargeWheel sparks mobile EV charging in San Francisco
    April 8, 2019
    ChargeWheel has secured $1 million in funding to launch a mobile electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the San Francisco Bay Area. The network will be based on ChargeWheel’s mobile Energy Trailers, which don’t require a connection to the grid, and can therefore operate in any car park. The company says they offer a combined solar-powered generation and energy storage solution, and plans to deploy 100 in the Bay Area by the end of 2019. The units can simultaneously charge four EVs or up to 400 electric
  • ACE report: private sector and user-pay for English roads
    May 16, 2018
    It’s one minute to midnight for funding England’s roads, according to a timely new report - and the clock’s big hand is pointing to some form of user-pay solution, reports David Arminas. Is there any way out of future user-pay funding for England’s highway infrastructure? The answer is a resounding ‘no’, according to the recently-published report Funding Roads for the Future. The 25-page document by the London-based Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) calls for a radical rethink about how to