Toyota, Denso partner Aurora on self-driving cars for Uber

  • February 10, 2021
  • William Payne

Toyota Motor Corp and supplier partner Denso Corp are teaming up with self-driving car startup Aurora to develop and build autonomous minivans for ride-hailing networks.

Toyota Sienna minivans will be equipped with Aurora’s self-driving system, with a test fleet to be deployed by the end of 2021. The plan is to deploy the vehicles some time after that in Uber Technologies‘ ride-hailing fleet and those of unspecified other companies.

In a statement, Aurora said that the collaboration lays the groundwork for the mass-production, launch, and support of these vehicles with Toyota on ride-hailing networks, including Uber’s, over the next few years. As part of this long-term effort, Aurora said it will explore mass production of key autonomous driving components with Denso and a comprehensive services solution with Toyota for when these vehicles are deployed at scale, including financing, insurance, and maintenance.

Aurora’s new agreement with Toyota and Denso expands on an earlier collaboration between the two Japanese companies and Uber ATG. Toyota remains an investor in Uber and transferred its equity stake from ATG to Aurora as part of the December transaction.