Toyota, Aisin, Denso to Invest $2.8 Billion to Speed Automated Driving Software Development

Toyota and its automotive components subsidiaries Aisin and Denso will invest a combined 300 billion yen ($2.8 billion) to start a new company this month that will “further accelerate” developments in automated driving, said Toyota in a Friday announcement. Within the newly established Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development (TRI-AD), the three companies will pursue joint development of fully integrated, “production-quality” software for automated driving and will hold “further discussions,” in the future, “aiming to conclude a concrete joint development contract,” it said. "Building production-quality software is a critical success factor for Toyota's automated driving program," said James Kuffner, current Toyota Research Institute Chief Technology Officer, who will head TRI-AD in a statement. The new company’s mission “is to accelerate software development in a more effective and disruptive way,” by staffing the project with “world-class software engineers,” he said. “We will recruit globally.” The new company, of which Toyota will own 90 percent and Aisin and Denso 5 percent each, will have 300 employees at the start, growing to about 1,000 through “external recruitment,” said Toyota. Though the company will be based in Tokyo, English will be its primary “business language,” it said.