Johannesburg - Toyota South Africa has announced that it will be rolling out in-car Wi-Fi and other connectivity features on all new Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold from the beginning of September 2019.
This initiative, created in a partnership with Vodacom Business and Altron, is said to be the world’s first convergence of Wi-Fi and connectivity features in one package across an entire model range.
“As of 01 September 2019, all new Toyota and Lexus models sold in South Africa will come standard with in-car Wi-Fi including 15GB free data (which you can top up) as well as a host of connectivity features and benefits courtesy of Toyota Connect, a major extension of the MyToyota App,” said Toyota SA President Andrew Kirby.
The new ‘connectivity hub’ will be known as Toyota Connect, and it will be housed within the MyToyota App, which is fully integrated with the dealer and manufacturer systems.
In addition to the aforementioned in-car Wi-Fi, the initiative offers a wide range of convenience and safety services, including roadside assistance with impact detection, giving customers real-time support with AA-access around the clock.
“Once a customer has opted in, the data aggregated from the telematics module will provide insights to Toyota, their dealer network, customers, fleet owners and third-party service providers such as the Automobile Association (AA), providing accident and breakdown assistance,” said Altron Group Chief Executive Mteto Nyati.
Service reminders, taxation logbook and more
The App will remind you when your car is due for a service and tell you how healthy your battery is. There's even a logbook facility that automatically saves a digital log of the vehicle’s mileage and service history for tax-submission purposes, including auto-allocation for work and home. Lost your vehicle? There is a GPS locator for that too.
The technology platform was jointly designed by Toyota and Altron subsidiary Netstar.
But wait, there’s more on the way, according to Kirby:
“This is just the start of an exciting journey. We are thrilled about the imminent addition of benefits such as licence renewal, which will allow Toyota Connect users the ability to renew their vehicle licence disc via the technology and have it delivered to their address of choice.
“Toyota Connect partners are also working on expanding benefits for fleet and small business owners as well as car rental support. We will share details about these exciting developments in the near future”.