It has been a good year for Singapore-based ride-hailing giant Grab. From pumping funds in hospitality chain Oyo Hotels to acquiring its rival Uber’s Southeast Asian operation, the Softbank-backed company knows how to stay at the top of its game. Grab Holding Inc and Yamaha Motor Co recently announced a strategic partnership to collaborate in motorcycle ride-hailing service within the Southeast Asian region with a focus on Indonesia. As part of the partnership agreement, the latter will be investing US$150 million in Grab.

Grab is one of the most frequently used mobile online-to-offline (O2O) platform, in Southeast Asia, providing everyday services that matter most to consumers. The company 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. At present, Grab offers services in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Grab Ming Maa, president, Grab said in a release, “We are thrilled to partner with Yamaha to develop and provide industry-leading safety mobility services to our 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.”

Delivering Next Generation Mobility

Through this partnership, Yamaha Motor and Grab aim to develop next-generation mobility services by implementing solutions and innovations which:

• Leverage Yamaha Motor’s technology and knowhow in motorcycle safety to enable safe and confident riding amongst Grab’s biker-partners in response to motorcycle ride-hailing service demand with the aim of increasing user satisfaction.
• Lower the barriers to motorcycle purchasing for those engaged in (or considering to engage in) motorcycle ride-hailing.

Tapping Into Grab’s Customer Base.

As part of the 2030 Long-Term Vision, which Yamaha Motor announced on December 11, and under the banner of “ART for Human Possibilities,” this partnership leverages robotics technology (advancing robotics), addresses social issues through initiatives in the unique style of Yamaha (rethinking solution), and promotes innovations in mobility (transforming mobility). In doing so, it aims to expand the field of human potential and create a better society and lifestyles. The Japanese motorcycle maker also aims to leverage Grab’s customer base in Southeast Asia and knowledge of the motorcycle ride-hailing business for future product development.

Commenting on the partnership, Takuya Kinoshita, executive officer and chief general manager of Motorcycle Business Operations, Yamaha Motor Co 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, we also anticipate further increases in the value of motorcycles in future mobility systems, and the creation of new mobility solutions.”