(Yicai) Aug. 7 -- Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor and Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony.ai are investing CNY1 billion (USD140 million) to set up a joint venture that will promote the large-scale roll out of unmanned taxi services across China.

GAC-Toyota, which is Toyota’s joint venture with GAC Group, will provide the smart cars, while Pony.ai will contribute the autonomous driving technology and the Robotaxi operating platform, both parties said on Aug. 4.

Toyota is already an investor in Pony.ai and the Guangzhou-based company uses a GAC-Toyota vehicle for its pilot unmanned taxi services in Guangzhou and Beijing.

Founded in 2016, Pony.ai has already started trials of its robotaxi services in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. As of May, the company had provided over 1 million rides to more than 60,000 passengers, according to company data.

Toyota is accelerating its intelligent and electrification transformation in China to cope with fierce competition. The Aichi-based company will change the name of its largest R&D facility in China from Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing China to Intelligent ElectroMobility R&D Center by Toyota China, it said last month.

Toyota will place engineers from three local JVs, FAW-Toyota, GAC-Toyota and BYD Toyota EV Technology, on projects led by the facility, it added.

Faced with competition from local electric vehicle manufacturers, Toyota’s sales fell in China for the first time in a decade last year, dipping 0.2 percent to 1.94 million units. In the first half, the decline accelerated, tumbling 2.8 percent from a year earlier to 879,400.

Editor: Kim Taylor