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New Toyota and Uber Partnership Lets You Pay For a Toyota Lease by Uber Driving



Toyota and Uber have announced a new partnership aimed at “shaping the future of mobility,” which involved signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to benefit one another through the growing ridesharing business.

As part of the deal, customers will be able to lease a vehicle from Toyota and cover their payments with revenue earned as Uber drivers, with a lease period based on driver needs. The goal is to make leasing a Toyota more affordable and flexible for those who would use the vehicle for ridesharing, benefiting all three parties involved—or all four, if you count the Uber passengers who would get to ride in a new Toyota.

Toyota’s senior managing officer Shigeki Tomoyama says that “ridesharing has huge potential in terms of shaping the future of mobility,” and he isn’t the only one to think so. Earlier this year, GM and Lyft announced a partnership as well, and Uber too has begun testing autonomous technology on the Ford Fusion Hybrid.

As part of their collaboration, Toyota and Uber hope to accelerate their respective research efforts in mobility services. They will also develop new in-car apps that support Uber drivers, and Toyota will explore creating a separate fleet program to sell Toyota and Lexus vehicles to Uber drivers.

It’s clear that with the rise of ridesharing businesses, the increasing popularity of car connectivity technologies, and autonomous driving just a few years around the corner, automakers are beginning to reshape themselves as mobility service companies rather than simply car manufacturers.