Toyota Mobility Services Unit Opens London Office

Toyota Motor Corp.’s mobility services arm is opening an office in London to pursue next-generation shared services systems and related technologies.

The London venture will be operated as a startup company called Toyota Connected Europe (TCE) and capitalized at £4.5 million ($6.3 million). The company will work with Toyota’s European sales, development and manufacturing teams to develop and launch services tailored to local markets using Toyota’s cloud-based mobility services platform and big-data capabilities.

TCE plans to hire as many as 50 data scientists, engineers and software developers. Zach Hicks, CEO of Toyota Connected North America, also will serve as TCE’s chairman. Agustín Martín, Toyota Motor Europe’s vice president in charge of connected cars and mobility, will be the new company’s CEO.