Chris Urmson, Aurora CEO said: “Toyota has an unparalleled legacy, engineering expertise, leadership, and ability to deliver high-quality, affordable, and reliable vehicles. They’re also the preferred vehicle brand for transporting riders on ride-hailing networks, so we’re excited and honored to work with them to unlock driverless mobility services with the Aurora Driver. Our development work on highway driving to support our first commercial product, a driverless truck, will also be critical for safely moving people, as a significant fraction of ride-share bookings today require the ability to drive over 50 mph.”
Keiji Yamamoto, Operating Officer of Toyota and President of Connected Company said: “Toyota is dedicated to creating and realizing mobility for all by focusing on technology that will move people safely and responsibly, a vision Aurora shares with us. By combining our expertise and know-how in vehicle control systems, mass-production, Connected Car technology, and our advanced safety support systems with Aurora’s industry-leading approach to self-driving technology, we aim to commercialize and deliver safe, high-quality, and affordable autonomous ride-sharing vehicles and services.”
We’ve long said it’s through our strategic partnerships and an independent and flexible transportation ecosystem that we’ll make this technology a reality. A global manufacturing partner enables us to build an affordable product and a network partner allows us to deploy at scale—we now uniquely have both. Our partners are committed for the long-haul and share our vision of the future, translating to a clear path to enter and lead the driverless ride-sharing market. At Aurora, we’re moving fast and continue to combine our technical agility with strong partnerships that give us the resources and momentum to be the leaders in self-driving.
The momentum continues at Aurora and we’re hiring in all disciplines to help us solve one of the biggest challenges of our generation. Check out our careers page to see open positions and learn more about what it’s like to work at Aurora.