Yamaha Motor and Grab Holding Inc, Southeast Asia’s leading online-to-offline (O2O) platform, will form a strategic partnership in motorcycle ride-hailing services.

These will be targeted at the South-East Asian region with a focus on Indonesia. As part of the agreement, Yamaha Motor will invest $150 million in Grab. The duo will aim to develop next-generation mobility services by implementing solutions and innovations.

The objective is to leverage Yamaha Motor’s technology and knowhow in motorcycle safety to enable safe and confident riding amongst Grab’s biker-partners. It will also strive to lower the barriers to motorcycle purchasing for those engaged in ride-hailing.

As part of the 2030 long-term vision that Yamaha Motor announced over a week ago, this partnership leverages robotics technology, addresses social issues through initiatives in the Yamaha style (rethinking solution), and promotes innovations in mobility.

In doing so, it aims to expand the field of human potential and create a better society and lifestyles. Yamaha Motor also aims to leverage Grab’s customer base in Southeast Asia and knowledge of the motorcycle ride-hailing business for future product development.

Grab is one of the most frequently used mobile O2O platforms in Southeast Asia, providing everyday services that matter most to consumers. Today, the Grab app has been downloaded onto over 125 million mobile devices, giving users access to over eight million drivers, merchants and agents.

Grab also has the region’s largest land transportation fleet and has completed over 2.5 billion rides since its founding in 2012. It offers the widest range of on-demand transport services in the region, in addition to food and package delivery services, across 235 cities in eight countries.

Executive Officer, Takuya Kinoshita, Chief General Manager of Motorcycle Business Operations, Yamaha Motor, said, “We anticipate significant advancements through this collaboration with Grab via strategic partnership.”

As well as increasing user and driver safety and confidence through incorporation of Yamaha Motor technology in new user-participation type transport systems, the company also anticipates further increases in the value of motorcycles in future mobility systems, and the creation of new mobility solutions.

Ming Maa, President of Grab said the company was thrilled to partner with Yamaha to develop and provide industry-leading safety mobility services to motorcycle driver-partners in Indonesia.

“The safety of our driver-partners and passengers is of paramount importance to us and we will continue to work with our partners to roll out innovative solutions and initiatives that make Grab the safest and most reliable ride-hailing platform in Southeast Asia,” declared Maa.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW