Panasonic and Toyota have concluded contracts aimed toward the establishment of a new joint venture related to the town development business.
Both companies aim to fuse the mobility services initiatives promoted by Toyota and the “lifestyle updates” initiatives spearheaded by Panasonic.
A rapid change is expected in this business due to the accelerated deployment of IoT technologies in home appliances, household equipment, etc., as well as the evolution in mobility, such as CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric) and MaaS (Mobility as a Service), a new concept of providing services by connecting cars, public transportation and other means of transportation through IT.
In the housing business, in which market competition is anticipated to intensify, the two companies will reinforce the foundation of their business through the integration of their respective housing businesses.
Kazuhiro Tsuga, President of Panasonic, said: “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.
“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.
“Through this collaboration, Panasonic will further challenge itself to continue advancement in the town development business, aiming to deliver the ‘ideal lifestyle’ for each customer.”
Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota, said: “From here on out, information will link all items and services that support people’s daily lives thanks to the development of CASE, and considering this from a broad, community-level and society-level perspective that includes cars―in other words, working from the concept of ‘connected cities’―will become important.
“In order to realise this, I believe that it is important to have a spirit of cooperation with friends and allies, while sharing our goals regarding what kind of future we want to create.
“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.”
In the town development business, Panasonic, together with various companies, has led the development of sustainable smart towns (SST) as advanced models of town development, which drew considerable attention both inside and outside Japan as successful examples of cutting-edge town development.
Meanwhile, Toyota has been proceeding with the construction of a “mobility service platform” (MSPF) while enhancing the development of “connected cars,” to realise an unrestricted, safe and comfortable mobility society for everyone, and promoting various big data initiatives to benefit both customers and society.
In addition, Toyota has also been collaborating with various domestic and overseas companies to create new mobility services.
