As the largest automobile company in Taiwan, Hotai Motor (TPE:2207) was the first distributor of Toyota vehicles in the overseas market. Hotai Group is currently the distributor for TOYOTA, LEXUS and HINO vehicles, as well as YOKOHAMA Tire in Taiwan, providing car owners with a full spectrum of mobility services. In recent years, Hotai has actively invested in MaaS (Mobility as a Service) solutions to provide customers with a comprehensive mobility experience.
Hotai Accelerator fosters collaboration between Hotai and startups in three key areas: AI-Enabled Operations, AI-Driven Decision Making, and New Business Development. The program leverages Hotai’s core brands and operational resources, including TOYOTA, LEXUS, and HINO Vehicles. Selected startups will have the opportunity to conduct POCs, explore potential business collaborations with Hotai. Graduates are recommended for the Google for Startups Cloud program, offering credits, technical training, and curated resources.
Resources
De-identified Member and Vehicle Data
Product Testing and Validation in Hotai Business Locations
Integrated Software & Hardware Solutions
Partner
Graduates are recommended for the Google for Startups Cloud program, offering credits, technical training, and curated resources.
Eligibility
Legally established company (startups, SMEs)
Alignment with focus areas of Hotai Accelerator
Competitive technology and product
Proven product/solution with recent customer references
Focus Areas
AI-Enabled Operations
Leverage AI, VR, and related technologies to automate operations, improve service quality, and enhance the customer experience.
Generative AI Greeting Card Platform: Leverage generative AI to rapidly produce personalized digital invitations (Partner: LEXUS Operations Group)
The system should synthesize vehicle images and copy based on user prompts—such as selected vehicle models, design styles, or personal photos—while strictly adhering to brand guidelines and visual standards (including correct logos and vehicle imagery). The generated invitations are intended for scenarios like car showcase invitations and seasonal greetings.
AI Sales Competency Assessment: Leverage AI to assess the accuracy of sales competency evaluations and adherence to required processes (Partner: LEXUS Operations Group)
The solution should support digitalizing sales competency assessments. Performances in basic capability evaluations—such as vehicle delivery briefings and product explanations—should be recorded through audio or video and converted into transcripts. The AI should then benchmark the transcripts against existing evaluation criteria to objectively assess both accuracy and process compliance.
AI Online Sentiment Management System: Leverage AI to automatically monitor online public sentiment and provide real-time alerts for critical incidents (Partner: TOYOTA After Sales Service Operations Group)
The solution should use AI-driven web crawling to collect online discussions related to brand vehicle safety or complaints. It should automatically identify significant events, classify their severity, provide real-time alerts, and visualize data. Rapid and accurate aggregation of complaint information helps shorten response times in public relations or crisis situations.
AI Voice-Based Customer Service: Leverage AI to enhance 0800 call center operations with intelligent call routing and automated responses (Partner: LEXUS Operations Group)
The system should integrate with the 0800 telephone service, using AI-driven natural language understanding to replace traditional IVR key-based routing. For knowledge-based inquiries, AI should provide direct responses. For more complex cases—such as consultations or complaints—the system should record the customer's input and assign cases to the relevant dealers. If the customer explicitly requests human assistance, the AI should intelligently route the call to a live agent to improve efficiency and customer experience.
Voice AI for Care & Outbound Calling: Leverage AI to proactively contact vehicle owners outside of business hours (Partner: LEXUS Operations Group)
The system should deploy a voice bot to contact selected vehicle owners—for example, those on the LEXUS LINK APP alert list—to check if they require services such as towing or appointment scheduling. The system should automate outbound interactions and ensure continuous coverage, providing AI-assisted customer care during non-business hours.
AI Image Recognition for Warranty Claims: Leverage image recognition, OCR, and AI translation to automatically fill in warranty document notes from support photos (Partner: TOYOTA After Sales Service Operations Group)
The system should address the time-consuming manual task of adding notes to warranty support photos. Using image recognition, OCR, and AI translation, the system should identify license plates, mileage, and reported vehicle issues, converting these into Chinese text notes and automatically populating the corresponding fields. This enables faster digitalization and processing of warranty documents.
AI Used Car Appraisal: Leverage AI tools to quickly assess the condition of used vehicles (Partner: TOYOTA Vehicles Operations Group)
The solution should provide AI-driven support tools—such as image recognition and car paint detector—to identify exterior damages on vehicles. It should automatically query existing databases to estimate corresponding parts replacement or repair costs, generating condition ratings and reports. This enables used car sales personnel to improve efficiency during on-site vehicle inspections and increase accuracy in purchase price evaluations.
VR-Based Commercial Vehicle Driver Training System: Leverage VR simulations to improve commercial vehicle drivers' safety behavior and provide training scenarios for new drivers (Partner: Commercial Vehicles Operations Group)
The solution should establish an immersive VR-based safety training system for commercial vehicle drivers. It should simulate common risk scenarios on the road, focusing on blind spots and inner wheel swing challenges. The system should integrate VR with steering wheel, gearstick, pedals, and in-vehicle safety features (e.g., vision assist systems, blind spot detection). It should provide actionable safety instructions to strengthen drivers' hazard recognition and safe driving practices.
AI-Driven Decision Making
Utilize data models, predictive analytics, and generative AI–based knowledge extraction to deliver real-time operational insights and decision support.
AI Dealership Performance Analytics: Leverage AI to analyze dealership competitiveness and establish operational diagnostics and early warning mechanisms (Partner: TOYOTA Vehicles Operations Group)
The solution should apply AI to the existing dealership performance system—including metrics such as units sold, number of sales consultants, leads generated, and service satisfaction—to evaluate competitiveness and diagnose operational performance. Results should be presented in a one-page visual dashboard, offering early warnings and actionable recommendations for management.
AI Vehicle Technical Knowledge Management Platform: Leverage generative AI to provide real-time, actionable answers by integrating knowledge assets across systems
(Partner: LEXUS Operations Group, TOYOTA After Sales Service Operations Group)
The solution should address the challenge of frontline staff needing to manually search multiple systems for dispersed knowledge. It should consolidate technical knowledge from various platforms into precise, interactive content, enabling instant, actionable responses and greatly reducing the time required for frontline personnel to find out relevant information.
Precision Marketing Model for Performance Car Brand Members: Leverage AI to build a marketing model for performance car (TOYOTA GR) members to increase engagement and purchase intention (Partner: TOYOTA Vehicles Operations Group)
The solution should use AI to analyze member profiles (owners and non-owners) to maximize the value and commercial potential of the performance car brand. It should implement member segmentation and task mechanisms, and design targeted activities—such as races, car gatherings, test drives—and advertising campaigns to enhance GR activity engagement and identify potential customers for vehicle purchases.
Predictive Model for Potential Vehicle Sellers: Leverage AI to predict TOYOTA owners likely to sell their vehicles for targeted used-car acquisition campaigns (Partner: TOYOTA Vehicles Operations Group)
The system should analyze behavioral patterns and data of TOYOTA owners with prior vehicle transfers (sale or gift), including sales and maintenance records. Using this information, the system should build a predictive model to identify potential sellers in advance and generate lists for used-car acquisition promotion campaigns, aiming to maximize used vehicle procurement volume.
New Business Development
Expand the scope of innovative services and enter emerging business domains to create broader commercial impact.
Used Car Valuation Guide/Blue Book: Leverage machine learning to consolidate group-wide data and create an accurate used car valuation guide (Partner: TOYOTA Vehicles Operations Group)
The system should collect and integrate historical transaction data from multiple used car businesses within Hotai group, including retail and auctions, along with comprehensive TOYOTA vehicle information such as registration and maintenance records. Using this data, a machine learning model should provide accurate reference prices for used car purchase or sale to dealers and customers, establishing trust and positioning TOYOTA as an authoritative source for used car valuations.
Connected Commercial Fleet Management Optimization: Leverage vehicle telematics data to enhance preventive maintenance, logistics scheduling, and fleet management for commercial vehicles (Partner: Commercial Vehicles Operations Group)
The solution should use data from the HINO i-TRAQ telematics system (equipped with T-BOX) to build additional services on top of the existing basic functions, such as GPS tracking, task dispatching, work scheduling, and driver management. Additional services should include prediction of preventative maintenance of component data, usage-based insurance (UBI) analysis, and recommendations for optimal driving routes.
Smart Logistics Management System for Commercial Vehicles: Leverage AI-powered fleet and logistics management to optimize delivery efficiency (Partner: Commercial Vehicles Operations Group)
The system should integrate with commercial vehicle telematics systems to implement an AI-based smart logistics solution. This includes task dispatching, workflow scheduling, and intelligent cargo planning—automatically determining efficient loading sequences based on cargo size, weight, and destination, and generating 3D cargo visualization. The goal is to improve overall fleet management and logistics efficiency.
Selection Process
Application Deadline
Hotai Accelerator reserves the right to make changes to the program without prior notice.
Applicants shall be notified of changes to the program via email.
Contact: Jo / jochang@starfabx.com
