Paris, France - 29 September 2016
1. Wide of Toyota presentation with WRC (World Rally Championship) Yaris driving on stage
2. Wide of Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation walking on stage
UPSOUND: (English) Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation:
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased to introduce Toyota's new WRC Yaris which will debut in next year's WRC series. It's been 17 long years since we competed in WRC. So I guess you could say we are well rested."
3. Wide of Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation on stage
UPSOUND: (English) Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation:
"It's wonderful to be here in Europe, the centre of automotive racing with a heritage and brand I've long admired. A racing fan myself, nothing gives me greater pleasure than test driving one of the vehicles like this new Yaris built right here in France."
4. Wide of Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation on stage
UPSOUND: (English) Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation:
"Microsoft has been an investor in our data analytics company Toyota Connected, making them more than just a software supplier. We are indeed very happy to have Microsoft on our team in a quest to make ever better cars. With 100 million Toyotas on the road today, to me the true benefit of selling all those cars is that we can study and learn from them in order to one day totally eliminate automobile accidents and fatalities. That is one of our primary goals of the newly formed Toyota Research Institute. Its mission: to reach the next frontier in mobility. Or to put it another way: to boldly go where no car has gone before."
5. Wide of Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation on stage
UPSOUND: (English) Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation:
"Though not widely known, Toyota has been working on the development of autonomous cars for many years now. The team will be building on this foundation, developing two kinds of autonomy : chauffer mode and guardian mode.
6. Wide of Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation on stage with Yaris
LEAD IN:
Toyota is returning to rally car racing with the debut of a Yaris WRC to compete in next year's World Rally Championship (WRC) series.
The car maker is also teaming up with Microsoft to open the Toyota Research Institute.
STORY-LINE:
Revving back on to the World Rally Championship (WRC) stage, this is the car Toyota is hoping will help race ahead of the competition.
The Yaris WRC will make its debut in the 2017 World Rally Championship as the Toyota Gazoo Racing team.
Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, made the announcement at the Paris Motor Show.
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased to introduce Toyota's new WRC Yaris which will debut in next year's WRC series race. It's been 17 long years since we competed in WRC. So I guess you could say we are well rested," he says.
Toyota is collaborating with software giant Microsoft , which is supporting the racing project.
Information gathered from the racing car's performance will be used to enhance other vehicle projects.
The two companies have worked together previously collecting data through the Toyota Connected company.
They will now collaborate and form the Toyota Research Institute.
"We are indeed very happy to have Microsoft on our team in a quest to make ever better cars. With 100 million Toyotas on the road today, to me the true benefit of selling all those cars is that we can study and learn from them in order to one day totally eliminate automobile accidents and fatalities. That is one of our primary goals at the newly formed Toyota Research Institute. Its mission: to reach the next frontier in mobility. Or to put it another way: to boldly go where no car has gone before," says Toyoda.
Toyota also announced that it is working to develop driverless car technology and will be concentrating on two different modes of autonomy: chauffer mode and guardian mode.
