Toyota Connected, Inc. Debuts, Building on Automaker's Microsoft Partnership
"Toyota is taking a bold step creating a company dedicated to bringing cloud intelligence into the driving experience," said Kurt DelBene, executive vice president of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Microsoft. "We look forward to working with Toyota Connected to harness the power of data to make driving more personal, intuitive, and safe."
Toyota Motor Sales USA announced April 4 that it will launch Toyota Connected, Inc. to significantly expand its capabilities in data management and data services development, with the new company serving as a data science hub for Toyota's global operations.
"Toyota Connected will help free our customers from the tyranny of technology. It will make lives easier and help us to return to our humanity," said Zack Hicks, CEO of Toyota Connected and chief information officer at Toyota Motor North America. "From telematics services that learn from your habits and preferences to use-based insurance pricing models that respond to actual driving patterns, to connected vehicle networks that can share road condition and traffic information, our goal is to deliver services that make lives easier."
Toyota Connected will be based in Plano, Texas, and begin with two mandates: delivering seamless and contextual services and using cutting-edge data analytics to support product development for customers, dealers, distributors, and partners. Toyota's announcement said the new company builds on Toyota's existing partnership with Microsoft to accelerate R&D efforts and deliver new connected car solutions. Toyota Connected will adopt Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform.
"Toyota is taking a bold step creating a company dedicated to bringing cloud intelligence into the driving experience," said Kurt DelBene, executive vice president of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Microsoft. "We look forward to working with Toyota Connected to harness the power of data to make driving more personal, intuitive, and safe."