Online cab aggregator Uber has received an undisclosed amount of investment from automaker Toyota, reports Recode. The strategic investment will allow Toyota to partner with Uber to create a vehicle leasing program for Uber’s drivers in the US through Toyota Financial Services. Recode states that this will be an extension of Uber’s existing ‘Vehicle Solutions’ financing platform. Both the companies will work on transport solutions and collaborate on research. The report adds that initially, both will focus on car sharing but will eventually also collaborate on autonomous technology for cars. Toyota has also sold a fleet of Lexus and Toyota cars to Uber. Toyota’s focus on self drive vehicles: Readers would be interested to know that Toyota owns 1,400 self driving car patents (not necessarily related to the success of self driving cars), according to this Ars Technica report from January. Last month, Toyota announced that it was opening its third facility under the Toyota Research Institute which focuses on AI, robotics and autonomous vehicle tech. Uber debuts autonomous car; says will cause fewer deaths in accidents Last week, Uber released a picture of it’s self driving car, a hybrid Ford Fusion, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the US. The company said that it would be collecting mapping data and testing the car’s self driving capabilities, with a driver in the driver’s seat. Uber said that the car has a host of sensors including radars, laser scanners and high res cameras to map its environment. It also added that 94% of the…
