Toyota Motor: Automaker Looking To Invest In Chinese Ride-Hailing Company Didi Chuxing

Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) is eyeing up an investment in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, which could be valued at 60 billion yen ($550 million), the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Wednesday. Didi Chuxing is the largest ride-hailing company in China that was founded in 2012.

To grow to the largest ride-hailing company in China, Didi Chuxing purchased its Chinese competitors and the local operating unit of Uber Technologies. It has also partnered with Toyota for the development of the self-driving e-Palette car that also operates as a store on wheels as well as working with the automaker on the development of connected cars.

According to the news outlet, Toyota is looking to China for the launch of a new mobility services company as it looks to gain a bigger foothold in the largest car market in the world. The new Chinese mobility company is expected to lease cars to Didi drivers, the news outlet said.

“We continue to evaluate our business strategy from a global perspective in areas of Connectivity, Autonomous, Sharing and Electrification to meet the future needs of our customers,” Toyota spokesman Kensuke Ko told CNBC.

“However, we have nothing to announce at this time.”

This is not the first investment in a ride-hailing company by Toyota as the company has made a $500 million investment in Uber and a $1 billion investment in Grab.

Shares of Toyota stock were up 0.20 percent as of 11:19 a.m. ET on Wednesday.