Woven by Toyota, Inc. (“Woven by Toyota” or “the Company”), a mobility technology subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”), will play a key role in Toyota’s next generation products and technology as announced by Koji Sato, President and CEO of Toyota, at a recent press event held in Tokyo on April 7, 2023. Toyota’s vision for a mobility society and the “Toyota Mobility Concept” focuses on extending the value of the car, expanding mobility into new realms and integrating mobility with social systems. In line with this framework, the Company will help Toyota to develop next-generation cars, including advanced BEVs, and to realize a mobility society in which everyone can move freely, happily and comfortably.
“This is a pivotal moment for the industry when software can accelerate our progress toward an advanced mobility society,” said James Kuffner, CEO and Representative Director of Woven by Toyota. “Woven by Toyota plays a critical role and our unique software platform will enable Toyota not only to build next generation BEVs, but also, expand the value of mobility across every aspect of our lives.”
The Arene Software Platform
Woven by Toyota’s role is to accelerate Toyota Mobility Concept by developing software to expand vehicle intelligence and by building and operating Woven City – a test course for mobility that will serve as a living laboratory for trialing ways of connecting people, cars and society.
At the heart of this is Arene, a comprehensive software platform and vehicle operating system that enhances car intelligence and improves both the development and application of mobility software. Arene is targeted for deployment on vehicles beginning in 2025 followed by Toyota’s next generation of BEV in 2026. Arene builds on Toyota’s history of hardware excellence to apply the principles of the Toyota Production System to automotive software development, targeting similar gains in quality, reliability and performance. Arene also enables greater software reusability across models and automates key aspects of the development pipeline for greater efficiency. When paired with Toyota’s hardware platforms, Arene will help enable Toyota to speed up the development of new vehicles, drive down costs and deliver both improved safety and personalized experiences to customers around the world.
Beyond Arene, Woven by Toyota is also driving software innovation across a range of important areas, including leading Toyota’s development of automated driving technologies. This includes next generation Automated Driving and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, as well as the underlying geospatial intelligence technology that enables safe and reliable decision-making by vehicle systems.
Test Course for a Future Mobility Society
Looking to the future, nothing captures the scale of the efforts of Toyota and Woven by Toyota better than Woven City, a test course for mobility. Woven City’s unique partnership and collaboration brings together Toyota group developers, partner corporations, startups, entrepreneurs and residents of all ages to develop new ideas and inventions that can benefit people in their everyday lives and improve well-being for all. The Phase 1 construction of Woven City will be completed in the summer of 2024, after which Toyota and the Company will prepare for the start of initial trials in 2025.
Strengthened Leadership
As Toyota announced on February 13, 2023, Kenta Kon continues to serve as Chief Financial Officer of Woven by Toyota and as a Representative Director on the Board of Directors alongside Company CEO and Representative Director James Kuffner. Takanori Azuma and Julie Hamp joined as Directors on the Board, and Koji Kobayashi joined as Audit and Supervisory Board Member on April 1, 2023. These strong leaders have deep knowledge of Toyota and will be strategic partners advising the Company as it delivers value to Toyota Mobility Concept.
