Uber's SE Asia uncertainty. Denso cybersecurity deal. AV thermal cameras.
Hi there,
From an outsider’s perspective, Japan’s famously robust public transportation often overshadows its extensive road network, the world’s sixth-largest (though its automotive brands are obviously global giants).
Those roadways will see an intensifying battle as both domestic and foreign Japan’s taxi market:
Toyota invested ~$69M into taxi-hailing app JapanTaxi
Sony partnered with five taxi operators to build an AI-driven dispatch system
Nissan and DeNA began field tests of a self-driving taxi service
Didi Chuxing partnered with investor SoftBank to launch a joint taxi-hailing venture
Uber‘s CEO announced a renewed focus on Japan, targeting partnerships with taxi operators (Uber’s Tokyo market share stands at <1%)
These new players will compete against Line Taxi in a Japanese market with powerful incumbents (peer-to-peer services are still outlawed). As with other ride-hailing markets, there are overlapping interests at play; Toyota backed Uber in 2016, and SoftBank is now a major shareholder in both Didi and Uber.
On SoftBank, my colleague Matt Wong (@mlcwong) spotted this slide in its last investor briefing, which may point towards more joint ventures with its portfolio companies:
The recent clutch of startups and OEMs piloting all-inclusive vehicle subscriptions have joined older experiments like Cox Automotive’s Flexdrive and other car-sharing models.
Part of the convenience and flexibility pitch with these models is eliminating consumers’ paradox of choice – namely for ancillary services like insurance.
Though most pilots are still in very early stages, insurers have come in to provide coverage on these programs. We took a look at which insurers have entered the fray thus far:
Of course, the penultimate subscription model might include a ride-hailing or robotaxi service with no ownership component whatsoever:
Players like Uber, Lyft, and Via have experimented with monthly ride passes, but mileage-based subscription models (like John Zimmer’s vision above) have yet to be realized.
