Toyota Motor has partnered with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) for establishing a capital tie-up to work together in smart city development in Japan, where autonomous vehicles will transport the civilians.
The two companies have been collaborating on connected vehicles since 2017 that are geared up with advanced telecommunication systems since the same year. Under the new partnership, the two firms will have mutual shareholdings, with each firm investing around $1.8 billion to buy each other’s stocks.
The smart city project will be constructed at a 175-acre site at the foot of Mount Fuji located in Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, after selecting its plant there at the end of 2020.
The smart city is going to have only autonomous and zero-emission vehicles on its street and it will have about 2,000 residents.
Toyota revealed some details of this project at the CES 2020 held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, previously this year.
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said that the automaker sees cars as not only a means of transport but what can be more inclusive to cities. He said that the requirement of NTT’s advanced technologies are needed as vehicles become more connected and are equipped with software that should to be updated.
