Toyota Acquires US Self-driving Tech Firm Renovo

Woven Planet, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor, plans to acquire Silicon Valley’s Renovo Motors to speed up developments of autonomous driving.

The deal, value of which undisclosed, followed purchases of CARMERA, a US-based road mapping technology firm in August, and Level 5, the self-driving division of Lyft in July, underscoring Toyota’s growing effort in investing in automated driving.  

“Renovo develops specialised software, which will advance Woven Planet's mission to enable the most programmable vehicles on the planet with Arene,” Toyota said on Tuesday, referring to its open vehicle development platform.

Renovo Complements Previous Acquisitions

“Following on the heels of recent acquisitions made this year, Renovo complements Woven Planet's strategy to bring together world-class talent and expertise in automated driving technology, next-generation mapping, and vehicle operating systems, ensuring that Woven Planet can power the future of mobility,” said Toyota.
 

Nikos Michalakis, senior vice president of software platform at Woven Planet, said: "The acquisition of Renovo supports Woven Planet's work in transforming worldwide mobility".

"A key part in delivering our…vision is to enable the most programmable vehicles on the planet―opening vehicle programming to everyone by simplifying vehicle software development and increasing deployment frequency without compromising safety and security,” he added.

Technical Hitches

Self-driving technology was expected to be in widespread use as early as 2020 but so far its backers have failed to make the systems widely available in commercial vehicles.