Pizza Hut has partnered with Toyota to explore fully-autonomous delivery vehicles.
Toyota unveiled designs of a self-driving concept vehicle, dubbed e-Palette, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, US.
Pizza Hut is one of the founding members of a new mobility service business alliance that also includes Mazda, Amazon, Didi, and Uber.
The companies will work on vehicle planning, application concepts and vehicle verification activities.
The alliance is said to leverage Toyota's advanced Mobility Services Platform (MSPF) for the development of connected mobility solutions.
Fully-automated and next generation battery electric vehicle (BEV) is being developed for use in a range of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) businesses.
The e-Palette concept vehicle features open control interface and advanced software tools, which will enable partner companies to install their own automated driving system and vehicle management technology.
Toyoto intends to carry out feasibility testing of the e-Palette Concept in different regions, including the US, in the early 2020s.
Toyota has designed three sizes of the e-Palette Concept vehicle with different lengths. Equipment can be installed as per the user's needs such as ride sharing specifications, hotel room specifications and retail shopping specifications.
Technology providers will secure open application programming interface (API) such as vehicle state and vehicle control to develop automated driving systems.
Vehicle information can be collected from the data communication module (DCM) installed to the e-Palette concept and Toyota Big Data Center (TBDC) through a global communication platform/
Toyota Motor president Akio Toyoda said: "The automobile industry is clearly amidst its most dramatic period of change as technologies like electrification, connected and automated driving are making significant progress.
“Toyota remains committed to making ever better cars. Just as important, we are developing mobility solutions to help everyone enjoy their lives, and we are doing our part to create an ever-better society for the next 100 years and beyond.”