Skip to main content

Toyota and SoftBank to launch joint venture for mobility services in Japan

Toyota Motor and Softbank will launch a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) business in Japan by April 2019. Called Monet Technologies, the company will combine Toyota's mobility services platform and information infrastructure for connected vehicles with Softbank's Internet of Things platform. Initially, Monet intends to deploy an on-demand transportation service as well as corporate shuttles. By the second half of the 2020s, Monet says it will launch an autonomous MaaS fleet using Toyota’s battery-ele
October 15, 2018 Read time: 1 min
1686 Toyota Motor and Softbank will launch a Mobility as a Service (8356 MaaS) business in Japan by April 2019.


Called Monet Technologies, the company will combine Toyota's mobility services platform and information infrastructure for connected vehicles with Softbank's Internet of Things platform.

Initially, Monet intends to deploy an on-demand transportation service as well as corporate shuttles.

By the second half of the 2020s, Monet says it will launch an autonomous MaaS fleet using Toyota’s battery-electric vehicles, called e-Palette. The vehicles will deliver meals with food prepared inside the vehicle and provide a hospital shuttle service where medical examinations can be carried out onboard. These vehicles can also serve as mobile offices, the company says.

Related Content

  • February 3, 2012
    Connecting people and mobility
    Stéphane Petti, Business Development Manager - Automotive, at Orange Business Services' International M2M Center, says that the ITS industry can no longer afford to ignore the telecommunications industry's role in connecting people and mobility services. To telephone companies (telcos), the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) sector is nothing new. Worldwide, they have been focusing considerable attention on M2M in all its sub-segments for several years now. It is the migration of M2M from fixed to wireless connectivi
  • August 21, 2018
    Helsinki’s residents trial MaaS as alternative to private cars
    Would you give up your own car? Helsinki implemented MaaS late last year and Colin Sowman discovers that the initial reaction has been positive What would it take for you to give up your own car? That is the question posed by Sampo Hietanen, the so-called ‘father’ of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and CEO of MaaS Global. And he is about to discover if MaaS really will convince the people of Helsinki to do the unthinkable. MaaS Global introduced a fledgling version of its Whim app in the city in late 2016
  • February 9, 2018
    Ten finalists selected for European Startup Prize for mobility
    Ten finalists have been shortlisted for the first edition of the European Startup Prize for mobility based on their ecological and social impact, the degree of innovation of their product or service, or their ability to attract investors. Four of them will receive awards during a pitch session in Brussels on the 22 February 2018. In the coming months, the startups will participate on a tour of European technology events where they will meet investors, partners and potential future clients. Sweden-based
  • September 5, 2019
    Bolt partners with Tartu University on self-driving tech
    Ride-sharing company Bolt has joined forces with the University of Tartu (UT) in Estonia to develop technology for SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicles (AV). The partners intend to carry out AV pilots in urban areas and integrate AVs onto Bolt’s on-demand transportation platform by 2026. Jevgeni Kabanov, chief product officer at Bolt - formerly Taxify - says: “Rather than developing our own vehicle, the goal of this project is to build our self-driving technology with a focus on software and maps, on top of ex