Japan's No. 1 automaker Toyota Motor and technology giant SoftBank Group are setting up a joint venture to create mobility services in what they called a "united Japan" effort to face global competition.

The 2 billion yen (20 million US dollars) venture, Monet Technologies Corp. is meant to be running by the end of March.

It will work on on-demand vehicle services, food deliveries, data analysis and hospital shuttles with onboard medical exams, the companies said Thursday in a news conference at a Tokyo hotel.

The energy and telecoms company's past tie-ups have tended to be with overseas startups.

But Softbank has also invested in leading car-sharing companies like Uber, Didi and Grab, and has acquired Arm, a leader in the Internet of Things, or IoT.

Toyoda stressed the auto industry was changing in an era of connected cars, autonomous driving, car-sharing and electric vehicles.

SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son said he was thrilled to be partnering with a top automaker on mobility and artificial intelligence, his company's expertise.

The joint venture's services will roll out in Japan first, but a global expansion is in the works, the companies said. It's 50.25 percent owned by SoftBank, 49.75 percent by Toyota.

Toyota is developing autonomous vehicles in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Monet plans to roll out a business featuring autonomous vehicle services by the second half of 2020, they said.

Automakers around the world are forming tie-ups in the race to develop the next-generation of transportation, such as self-driving cars.

4 October 2018 – Tokyo, Japan

1. Wide of Masayoshi Son, Chairman, Softbank, walking onto stage

2. Wide of joint press conference

3. Mid of Son talking

4. Wide of audience

5. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Masayoshi Son, Chairman, Softbank:

"Toyota is number one in the world in area of mobility and Softbank is putting more emphasis on AI (artificial intelligence). This partnership between the two companies will give birth to a new era of mobility, something that hasn't been seen yet and I have a feeling that mobility will evolve."

6. Wide of Son talking

7. Close of people taking photos

8. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Masayoshi Son, Chairman, Softbank:

"This time, we partnered with Toyota and I think that the Monet's service will be carried out while utilizing technology that Toyota will develop for autonomous driving."

9. Wide of Akio Toyoda, Chief Executive, Toyota, walking onto stage and shaking hands with Son

10. Mid of people taking photos

11. Wide of Toyoda talking

12. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Akio Toyoda, Chief Executive, Toyota:

"Softbank is working with many teams trying to create new mobility services and to create a more exciting mobility society. I believe that the cooperation between the two companies will be an alliance to make the future mobility society a reality by incorporating these teams."

13. Wide of Toyoda talking

14. Close of people taking photos

15. Tilt down from logo to photo session of Son (left) and Toyoda (right) in the middle

16. Wide of photo session

17. Close of people taking photos

18. Close of photo session and Son and Toyoda shaking hands

Japanese automaker Toyota and electronics giant Panasonic are forming a joint venture combining their housing businesses in Japan to showcase technologies such as connected cars and the internet of things.

Toyota Motor Corp., which offers housing as well as vehicles in Japan, said the new company will offer homes showcasing those technologies.

Panasonic Corp. said its housing subsidiary will become part of the joint venture.

The companies said Thursday the deal should concluded by January 2020.

Both sides said communities will increasingly want connected cars, autonomous driving, car-sharing and ecological vehicles, and homes offering sustainable energy and gadgetry.

Earlier this year, Toyota and Panasonic announced a joint venture to research, manufacture and sell batteries for ecological autos, an increasingly lucrative sector amid concerns about global warming.

The companies have been studying working together on batteries since 2017.

Tokyo - 9 May 2019

1. Wide of press conference

2. Zoom-out of Masayoshi Shirayanagi, Operating Officer at Toyota Motor Corporation, walking

3. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Masayoshi Shirayanagi, Operating Officer at Toyota Motor Corporation:

"By providing mobility and livelihood technology from Toyota and Panasonic, housing makers and construction companies can promote and create a new kind of town development. That is the goal of establishing this joint venture."

4. Wide of press conference

5. Wide of people

6. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Makoto Kitano, Senior Managing Executive Officer and CEO of Life Solutions Company at Panasonic Corporation:

"We want to highly optimise cutting edge technology to provide safe, comfortable and convenient living. At the same time, we aim to create a town that can be updated daily so residents will be satisfied."

7. Close of people

8. Close pan from Toyota to Panasonic logos

9. Wide of press conference