With Uber now willingly pulling out of the Southeast Asia market, Grab has become the dominant player as a ride hailing service provider and there is little to stop this company growing in this region.
The potential is immense and Toyata the largest automobile company in the world wants a piece of the cake. Aleady active in the digital and connected automotive space, Toyota has confirmed investment of US$1 billion and become a lead investor in Grab.
This investment will be considered the largest-ever by an automotive manufacturer in the global ride-hailing sector, Grab will be usign the investment to expand its ancillary services GrabFood and GrabPay, deeper into the region. It currently operates in 217 cities across eight Southeast Asian countries and has over 100 million users.
Grab will work with Toyota on how connected car services on the Toyota Mobility Service Platform (MSPF) – such as user-based insurance, financing program and predictive maintenance – further adding value for drivers on the platform. Grab and Toyota will roll-out connected car services, such as telematics-based insurance, bringing reduction to of insurance premiums.
Grab app has been downloaded into over 100 million mobile devices, giving access to over 6.6 million drivers and agents, delivering over 6 million rides per day. Apart from rides the app also has expanded to food and package delivery services across Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.
