Aug 31 (Nikkei) - Toyota Motor is speeding up its strategy of reaching across industry lines for help in a landscape transformed by high-tech competition by partnering with ride-hailing company Grab as well as five Japanese startups.
The tie-up with Singapore-based Grab, announced Wednesday, also included Toyota Financial Services and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, a unit of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings. The automaker's trading arm Toyota Tsusho said the same day that it had invested in Grab an amount thought to be several hundred million yen, or millions of dollars. The trader will provide services such as financing and insurance for Grab vehicles.