Toyota is going to start working with Uber

Toyota, one of the world's largest automakers, is investing in Uber.

On Wednesday, Toyota said in a statement that "the companies will create new leasing options in which car purchasers can lease their vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments through earnings generated as Uber drivers."

Toyota Financial Services Corporation and Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership are investing in Uber to test out a potential ride-sharing partnership, Toyota said.

The companies are only really talking about investments and new leasing programs at the moment, but this partnership shows promise in other ways.

Toyota's statement said the companies "will explore collaboration in a variety of other areas, such as developing in-car apps that support Uber drivers, sharing knowledge and accelerating their respective research efforts." It wouldn't be completely otherworldly if that knowledge sharing and those "research efforts" led to further development of Uber's self-driving car tech.

This announcement comes just hours after one of Uber's main competitors, Gett, announced a $300 million investment from Volkswagen, another massive automaker. 

Similarly, in January, GM and Lyft announced they would combine forces to build out a network of self-driving cars.

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