Toyota to use advanced self-driving tech in commercial vehicles first

Toyota Motor plans to first deploy advanced self-driving features in commercial vehicles before adding them to cars meant for personal use, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

It will be easier to apply self-driving technology that does not require constant and direct human-monitoring to taxis and vehicles Toyota is developing, including on-demand ride services, mobile shops and ambulatory hospitals, said James Kuffner, chief of Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development.

The operators of these vehicles could control when and where they are deployed and oversee their maintenance, he told reporters at their new offices in Tokyo.