|
The world's top-selling automaker will partner
Japanese car-sharing service operator Park24 Co Ltd for a
six-month experiment leasing the i-Road concept vehicle, with a
view to setting up a green car-sharing business akin to Daimler
AG's car2go service.
The pint-sized i-Road has two front wheels that move up and down
independently of each other, allowing it to lean like a
motorcycle but retain the stability of a car. Toyota has not yet
decided whether to mass-produce it.
"Our concept was to offer something that's both fun and
convenient for city driving," i-Road chief engineer Akihiro
Yanaka told Reuters.
Devising smarter ways to get around - known in the industry as
"smart mobility" - looks set to become a new battleground for
automakers as urbanization grows, pollution worsens, and more
cars clog up cities in emerging markets.
Germany's Daimler has taken the lead with car2go, where its 1
million-plus members in 30 European and North American cities
use a mobile app to reserve the tiny Smart Fortwo car, many of
which are zero-emission. Drivers pay by the minute and can drop
the car off at various spots around town.
Ford Motor Co in January announced the Ford Smart Mobility
initiative that would involve various types of trials around the
world including a car-sharing service in London.
Toyota also has car-sharing experiments underway in its namesake
city as well as in France's Grenoble, but Tokyo would be its
first in a major metropolis, which it says would benefit most
from the i-Road.
"Data shows that about 70 percent of cars in big cities are
occupied by one person, with most traveling less than 10 km (6.2
miles)," said Toshiya Hayata, group manager of Toyota's Smart
Community department. "That means the mode of transportation
doesn't have to be a car."
In the upcoming trial, users can lease one of five i-Roads from
the upmarket Ginza shopping district for 412 yen ($3) per 15
minutes, dropping it off at any of five spots in the capital.
To turn the trial into a viable business, Toyota said it would
need to slash costs both for the i-Road and for operating a
car-sharing network.
"But Daimler doesn't have anything smaller than the Smart,"
Yanaka said. "If we can make it work, the i-Road could have an
advantage."
(Editing by Christopher Cushing)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
