The automotive industry is at a pivotal moment when software has the power to change mobility and its role in society in ways that were once unimaginable. To capture this opportunity, Toyota is evolving into a mobility company that harnesses the potential of software to delight customers by making ever-better, software-enabled cars at scale.

Recently, Toyota’s new President and CEO, Koji Sato, announced the company’s “Toyota Mobility Concept” vision, built on the themes of carbon neutrality and expanding the value of mobility. President Sato highlighted Woven by Toyota and our Arene software platform as central to Toyota’s effort to produce intelligent vehicles with advanced safety and connectivity features.

We are helping Toyota transform and evolve by leveraging a long and deep-rooted history of innovation. The Toyota Production System (TPS) has revolutionized hardware manufacturing, and has become the gold standard for building high-quality, affordable products at scale. Woven by Toyota is developing and standardizing modern tools and processes for building high-quality software to power the next generation of vehicles. We aim to create the equivalent of “TPS for Software,” in order to enable Toyota to continue to deliver trusted, affordable products to customers all over the world.

Arene is our first big step in this direction. Arene is a new development platform that will efficiently deploy high-quality software across future Toyota and Lexus vehicles and improve overall vehicle intelligence. Arene will provide high-level architectures and interfaces for software-defined vehicles (SDVs), along with an automotive-grade operating system (OS) and powerful tools for development and testing. Importantly, Arene will facilitate the efficient reuse of software modules, component libraries, and customer-facing applications across a wide range of diverse vehicle hardware. Arene will also support Toyota’s efforts in developing next-generation battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). I believe Arene has the potential to be as groundbreaking as Microsoft Windows and Apple iOS were for personal computers and smartphones, ushering in a new era of programmable mobility.

Woven by Toyota is also driving software innovation across a range of important areas, including leading Toyota’s development of automated driving technologies for AD/ADAS systems, digital mapping, and geospatial intelligence products. But as we look toward the future, nothing captures the scale of our ambition better than Woven City – Toyota’s new advanced test course for mobility that is currently under construction at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan.

Woven City will accelerate the development and testing of mobility technology products and services, and become a source of inspiration and innovation for the world. Our ultimate goal is to improve well-being for both people and our planet through integrated testing of human-centered mobility, food, clean energy and healthy living - all powered by software with security and privacy built into its design. The Phase 1 construction of Woven City is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2024, after which we will prepare to start initial trials in 2025.

Our world has just emerged from a global pandemic that has revealed the importance of joining together to develop innovative, thoughtful solutions to the hardest problems, such as climate change and energy security. For Toyota and Woven by Toyota, this means developing more sustainable mobility solutions – and doing so at scale in line with the “Toyota Mobility Concept” discussed earlier.

This is an important goal. It puts us at the heart of innovation to determine the future of the car. It allows us to meet our moral obligation to improve safety and save lives. It gives us the opportunity to bring smiles to people around the world through the joy of driving. We are both excited and honored to play a role in Toyota’s transformation into a mobility company, and I hope you will support us in our journey.

You can learn more about our technology and products at our website, woven.toyota. To learn more about our new company brand name and organizational changes, please read our press release.