There are large un-resolved security and privacy issues with connected cars.
Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co., Toyota Financial Services Corp., and Toyota Motor Corp. announced that their U.S. subsidiaries formed a jointly-owned telematics car insurance services company called Toyota Insurance Management Solutions USA – TIMS – at the beginning of April.
It’s the latest step advancing the growing “pay-as-you-drive” insurance offerings and offer broader financing options for drivers. It’s also a reminder that who owns, sells and trades connected car data is far from resolved.
In a statement released in Japan, Toyota said, “The aim of establishing the new company is to contribute―from the aspect of automobile insurance―to the achievement of Toyota’s vision of a mobile society that is safe, secure and convenient.” The companies believe that there is a need for “a more-seamless relationship among driving data, financing options and insurance.”
Newly formed TIMS will work with its dealers and distributors. Previously, Toyota Financial Services and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance have been jointly promoting such unified financial and insurance services around the world since the 1990s. By consolidating their experience, the two companies now plan to start new services in the U.S.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
