TOKYO (Oct 31): Toyota Motor Corp will pilot its new Smart Key Box technology in fleets used by US car-sharing service Getaround next year, stepping up its push to benefit from new mobility services seen by some as a threat to traditional car ownership. "We don't consider these new services to be negative for us," Shigeki Tomoyama, who heads Toyota's Connected Car company, told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday. "While we're a company that makes and sells cars, at the same time we're a developer of mobility services," Tomoyama said. Among the features of the Smart Key Box technology to be piloted with Getaround is the ability to control doors and start engines via a smartphone, Toyota said. US rivals Ford and General Motors have also invested further in mobility technology through tie-ups this year with Amazon and IBM respectively to develop sophisticated on-demand and artificial intelligence-based services in their cars.

Source: The Edge Markets November 01, 2016 16:28 UTC