Telematics Will Come To Japan In A Big Way

TOKYO, March 12 Reuters reported that Japan's largest automaker Toyota Motor Corp will join hands with five firms in developing advanced in-vehicle information services, Mitsubishi Corp , one of the participating companies said on Tuesday.

New services to be commercialised by mid-2004 include electronic transaction and order services that would allow drivers to order and pay for gas, parking places and for drive-through take-out food without leaving their car.

The deal is the latest salvo in the race to develop car multimedia services for the Japanese market, coming on the heels of last month's announcement that Nissan Motor Co and mobile telecoms giant NTT DoCoMo Inc would work together to offer Net-based information and entertainment systems.

The other participating firms in the Toyota deal include electronics giant Mitsubishi Electric Corp , computer systems integrator NTT Data Corp, IBM Japan Ltd, a unit of International Business Machines Corp , and Denso Corp, Toyota's leading parts maker.

"We've been considering doing something like this for a year and now we have decided the date of commercialisation," said Kenji Kobayashi, spokesman for trading house Mitsubishi Corp.

The companies aim to establish a joint venture by next year.

Toyota officials were not able to offer immediate comment.

The six companies have already lined up many other firms to offer services, including department stores, fast food restaurant chains and gasoline stands. .