SMARTVALUE Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka, Osaka, Japan; Representative: Jun Shibuya, President and CEO; hereinafter “Smartvalue”), Suzuki Motor Corporation (Headquarters: Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan; Representative: Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President; hereafter “Suzuki”) and Marubeni Corporation (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan; Representative: Masumi Kakinoki, President and CEO, Member of the Board; hereinafter “Marubeni”) have entered into a joint contract. Together, these companies will conduct a Proof of Concept (hereinafter “PoC”) for a carsharing service, utilizing shared parking lots as well as parking lots of Suzuki’s car dealerships and focusing on users in suburban areas.
Through the PoC, all three companies will look to provide a carsharing service for use in everyday life that will be available near homes in suburban areas and feature the easy-to-ride compact car made by Suzuki. Meanwhile, Suzuki will strive to enhance the services provided to the customer within the carsharing service.
1. Background The world is currently experiencing once-in-a-century disruptive innovation in the automotive industry, which consists of the reformation of products, value chains and business models in each new technology field of “CASE” (Connectivity, Autonomous, Shared & Services and Electric) Carsharing, which is represented in CASE by the letter “S” and allows users to have access to a car whenever they need to without actually owning one themselves, is experiencing particularly rapid growth as an important factor in the composition of MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service).
2. Details of the PoC
Below is a detailed program of the PoC:
- Implementation of carsharing service utilizing “Kuruma Base”, a Mobility-as-a-Service platform developed by Smartvalue.
- Arrangement of vehicles to be used for carsharing services at parking spaces of Suzuki car dealerships and in surrounding suburban areas.
Though the PoC, Smartvalue will promote its own platform service “Kuruma Base” and investigate market needs for carsharing. Suzuki will acquire knowledge of carsharing and explore potential Suzuki car users for its future business development. Marubeni will seek new business opportunities in the reformed automotive industry with the sharing economy as one of its primary focus areas in “CASE”.
- Commencement of PoC: Autumn, 2019 (scheduled)
- Period of PoC: Approximately 1 year
- Area of PoC: Toyonaka, Osaka
3. What is “Kuruma Base”? “Kuruma Base” is a service provision system platform based on a monthly subscription fee developed by Smartvalue for companies engaged in Mobility-as-a-Service business, such as carsharing. The service consists of an onboard device, operating console on the cloud, smartphone application and operating outsourcing support. “Kuruma Base” has adopted a virtual key system as one of the most important factors for its Mobility-as-a-Service. This system makes it possible to virtually authorize a limited number of persons access to a car for a limited period of time.
SMARTVALUE
- Company Name: SMARTVALUE Co., Ltd.
- Representative: Jun Shibuya, President and CEO
- Address: 2-3-2, Utsubohonmachi, Nishi-ku, Osaka
- Established: June, 1947
- Capital: JPY 959,454 Thousand (as of June 2019)
- Business: Cloud solutions Business, Mobile business
- Website: https://www.smartvalue.ad.jp/en/index.html
SUZUKI
- Company Name: Suzuki Motor Corporation
- Representative: Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President
- Address: 300, Takatsuka-cho, Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
- Established: March, 1920
- Capital: JPY 138,161 Million (as of March 2019)
- Business: Production and sales of Automobiles, Motorcycles, Outboard Motors, Motorized Wheelchairs, Residential etc.
- Website: https://www.globalsuzuki.com/
MARUBENI
- Company Name: Marubeni Corporation
- Representative: Masumi Kakinoki, President and CEO, Member of the Board
- Address: Tokyo Nihombashi Tower, 2-7-1, Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Established: December, 1949
- Capital: JPY 262,686 Million (as of March 2019)
- Business: Marubeni Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries use their broad business networks, both within Japan and overseas, to conduct importing and exporting (including third country trading), as well as domestic business, encompassing a diverse range of business activities across wide-ranging fields including food, consumer products, chemical & forest products, energy & metals, power & plants projects, and transportation & industrial machinery. Additionally, the Marubeni Group offers a variety of services, makes internal and external investments, and is involved in resource development throughout all of the above industries.
- Website: https://www.marubeni.com/en/