Toyota Tsusho Corporation (“Toyota Tsusho”) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary Toyotsu Automotive Creation Corporation (“TAC”) and USS Co., Ltd. (“USS”) are introducing the UVeye vehicle inspection system at USS Tokyo, the largest auction site for used vehicle auctions in Japan. USS is Japan’s largest used vehicle auction provider and UVeye is a system from UVeye Ltd. of Israel, a company which Toyota Tsusho has made an investment in.
TAC and USS first introduced UVeye in Japan at the Nagoya auction site in October 2020. Auction members are provided with high resolution images of auction vehicles’ undercarriage and wheels obtained by UVeye. This allows members to discern the conditions of vehicles without having to actually go to the auction venue in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which highly appeals to Internet members who participate in the auctions online. At USS Tokyo, the second site for the system’s introduction, a newly developed function for taking photographs of tire tread grooves has been added and will commence operation from today February 4, 2021.
UVeye is a unique system which detects vehicle’s anomalies instantly by 1) scanning and creating 3D images of the undercarriage, body and wheels and then 2) conducting AI-based image analysis. The introduction of this system will increase efficiency and fairness of vehicle inspection, which is usually done by man.
Senior Managing Director Masayuki Akase of USS commented, “At the Nagoya auction site, through the cooperation of Toyota Tsusho and TAC, we were able to introduce UVeye without significant changes to the vehicle photography process that came with putting vehicles up for auction. Through the high resolution images the UVeye has allowed customers to visualize parts they were previously unable to see, which has contributed to the added value. Going forward, we hope to continue cooperating with Toyota Tsusho and TAC to meet customers’ needs through the promotion of digital transformation in used vehicle transactions.”
In the future, TAC and USS will work to introduce UVeye at other sites, and at the same time, jointly evaluate and discuss operation of vehicle inspection systems that include AI-based image analysis to increase efficiency in vehicle inspection.
Toyota Tsusho will work to expand the added value of existing businesses and create new ones through the use of digital technologies.
Uveye vehicle inspection system
Undercarriage image
Tires, wheels and tire grooves image