Toyota banks on mobility technology for future growth

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Toyota is revving up acquisitions in mobility technology, adding Renovo Motors Inc., a Silicon Valley software developer, to its Woven Planet team, which is working on automated driving.

The addition, announced Tuesday, follows the purchase earlier this year of CARMERA Inc., a U.S. venture that specializes in sophisticated road mapping updates made cheaper and faster by using crowdsourced information obtained from millions of net-connected Toyota vehicles.

The company has not disclosed the value of either deal.

Renovo develops automotive operating systems, which Toyota Motor Corp. sees as essential for developing programmed vehicles so it can transition to what it calls “a mobility company” that includes more than just cars. Renovo means “new life” or “renew” in Latin.

Renovo's data-management platform enables automakers to continuously learn from their vehicles, using a so-called “complete loop” approach, so vehicles can become safer and more reliable.

“In Woven Planet and Toyota, we’ve found partners committed to doing exactly what we have always wanted to do, on a global scale, and that’s a great feeling,” said Renovo Chief Executive Christopher Heiser.

Woven Planet, Toyota’s wholly owned subsidiary, earlier acquired San Francisco-based Lyft’s self-driving division Level 5. Chief Executive James Kuffner said more acquisitions may be coming.

“The big picture is Woven Planet creating a ‘dream team’ of software and vehicle engineering people globally to deliver the world’s programmable and safest mobility. That’s the context,” he told The Associated Press.

“Always as an executive, you are trying to balance the speed and the growth versus the focus and maintaining company culture. The...