Toyota Motor Corp. and Denso Corp. announced plans on Wednesday to form a joint venture to develop the next-generation semiconductors for future connected and self-driving vehicles.
Denso, one of the world's largest auto suppliers, will own 51% of the new business with Toyota to own the remaining portion. Assuming the project receives anti-trust and other regulatory approvals, the companies plan to launch the venture in April 2020 with 500 employees and about 50 million yen ($458,968) in initial capital. Toyota owns about 24% of Denso.
This is the latest step in Toyota's strategy to shift more advanced electronics development to Denso, which is a key supplier of advanced components for Toyota and Lexus brand cars and trucks. This particular venture will concentrate on such products as power modules for electric vehicles and monitoring sensors for automated vehicles. The news comes on the heels of Toyota's plan to work with Apollo, the consortium led by China's Baidu created to develop artificial intelligence for self-driving vehicles.
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