PHOTO
* Toyota to invest in ride-hailing company, collaborate in future
* Latest deal between traditional carmakers and mobility upstarts
* Partnerships a good hedge against potential of rivalry
(Adds analyst comment, context on China and autonomous driving)
By Alexandria Sage
SAN FRANCISCO, May 25 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp
The strategic alliance between the Japanese car maker and Uber Technologies Inc
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal is expected to help Toyota keep tabs on ride-hailing markets worldwide and has the potential to help it strengthen its position in China, where it lags Volkswagen AG
"Thinking of it in a China context is important because that's probably the fastest growing ride hailing market in the world. For Toyota to have a piece of that would be significant," said James Chao, Asia Pacific head for IHS Automotive.
The recent flurry of deals also reflects the desire of automakers to avoid becoming bystanders if a significant number of consumers around the world choose to forego vehicle ownership and buy transportation by the mile or the minute.
Although Toyota and Uber did not offer much in the way of details on potential areas for research collaboration, both are researching self-driving cars as well as "mobility solutions" that allow travelers to seamlessly connect to different modes of transportation through apps.
In other deals, GM invested $500 million in Lyft, Uber's main U.S. rival, this year while Volkswagen also announced on Tuesday a $300 million investment in Gett, a smaller ride-sharing company.
This month Apple Inc
Uber is investing in autonomous technology, including mapping, while Toyota has been opening research labs in the United States, spending $1 billion through 2020 in research and develop for artificial intelligence and robotics to help develop self-driving cars.
Doing away with drivers would greatly reduce the cost of ride-hailing services, and Toyota could be angling to be Uber's preferred supplier of such cars in the future, Chao at IHS said.
GM has said its investment in Lyft was part of plans to develop an on-demand network of self-driving cars that they believe will first reach consumers as part of a ride-sharing service.
GM executives have also said Lyft could serve as a platform to launch the automaker's Chevy Bolt, an electric car slated to hit the market late this year.
Ford Motor Co
On Tuesday, startup NuTonomy, backed by Bill Ford's venture capital arm Fontinalis Partners, raised $16 million in extra funding to help develop self-driving taxis in Singapore.
Toyota is making the Uber investment through its unit Toyota Financial Services Corporation and Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership.
(Reporting by Alexandria Sage in San Francisco, Radhika Rukmangadhan in Bengaluru and Jake Spring in Beijing; Editing by Alan Crosby and Edwina Gibbs) ((radhika.rukmangadhan@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S., +1-646-223-8780, outside U.S., +91-80-6749-2190; Reuters Messaging: radhika.rukmangadhan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: TOYOTA UBER TECH/DEALS