Toyota and Panasonic join forces for smart towns

In a joint statement on 9 May, Panasonic and Toyota announced a new joint venture focused on town development and associated smart technologies.

Toyota’s mobility services capabilities will be augmented with Panasonic’s “lifestyle updates” initiatives that will create added value for the town development industry as a whole.

The accelerated development of IoT in home appliances and household equipment is expected to ramp up continually alongside the growth of connected vehicles and IoT-equipped public transport around the world.

By integrating their capabilities through the joint venture, Toyota and Panasonic will throw their combined weight behind driving this growth even further.

SEE ALSO:

• Panasonic to collaborate with GS-Solar through creation of new company

• Toyota launches new firm, Kinto, to drive fresh car ownership model

• Toyota and Panasonic team up for EV battery pack production

• Read the latest issue of Business Chief, Asia edition, here

“In the future, in addition to hardware, the provision of improved services supported by technology will assume a more important role in town development that provides value for customers and the local community,” said Kazuhiro Tsuga, President of Panasonic, in the joint statement. 

“Toyota has been leading the mobility field, and Panasonic has long been serving lifestyle needs of people. We will put our respective strengths together to offer new value in everyday life.

Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s President, added:

“I want to take on the challenge of providing a new kind of lifestyle, based on the spirit of always wanting to be better and better, while bringing together the strengths of Toyota, with its vehicle business and connected business, and Panasonic, with its home appliance business, battery business, and IoT business, and enhancing our competitiveness, with the housing business of both companies as the core.”