Toyota Motor Corporation
Park24 Co., Ltd.

Toyota City, Japan, April 3, 2018―Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and Park24 Co., Ltd. (Park24) announce their decision to start a business tie-up for a trial car sharing service in parts of central Tokyo. To achieve a mobility society that enables every individual to experience the freedom and joy of movement, as well as safe and reliable movement, Toyota has signed an agreement for trial operation with the aim of developing a new service that leverages Toyota's Mobility Services Platform (MSPF).

With the automotive industry in a once-in-a-century transformational period, customer needs are extending beyond traditional vehicle ownership into shared utilization such as car sharing. Based on a mutual desire to realize a mobility society that enables everyone to enjoy freedom of movement, Toyota and Park24 have been collaborating since April 2015 on trial sharing services, such as Times Car PLUS Toyota i-ROAD Drive and Times Car PLUS × Ha:mo, which are based on the concept of personal mobility. The goal is to contribute to the creation of low-carbon and comfortable cities by providing freedom of movement through the construction of a new urban transportation network.

This current initiative is positioned as a trial that is also designed to strengthen cooperation between the two companies, with Toyota's TransLog communication-based drive recorders and both companies' car sharing devices installed in cars operated by Park24's Times Car PLUS car sharing service. Park24's car sharing service operation system will serve as the base, operated through Times Car PLUS, which operates more than 20,000 vehicles and serves 900,000 members. While this trial is expected to produce data to build and enhance the functions of MSPF, the trial will also allow Toyota and Park24 to verify proof of concept toward the realization of future mobility services, onboard terminals, and system development by utilizing the expertise of both companies. Toyota and Park24 anticipate that this trial will help lead to vehicle safety improvements as well as increased efficiency and automation in maintenance.

Additionally, Toyota Mobility Service Co., Ltd., a company that is set to begin operations in April, is also expected to play a role in promoting this initiative. For this trial, 60 Toyota C-HR units have been designated as the vehicles for use, and the trial is scheduled for a 10-month period from June 2018 to the end of March 2019.

Building on past initiatives, as well as the just-announced trial agreement, Toyota and Park24 aim to jointly create new mobility services and contribute to society as partners committed to effecting positive change in the future.

Trial overview

Trial period June 2018 to March 31, 2019
Items for verification
  • Obtain and utilize a range of data from onboard devices installed in vehicles to verify changes in operational efficiency and safety.
  • Manage the collected information as Big Data and work to improve precision and efficiency through the use of AI in data analysis.
Location Central Tokyo
Vehicles used Toyota C-HR
Number of vehicles 60

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