Japanese carmaker Toyota is to invest $500m (387m POUNDS ) in Uber and expand a partnership to jointly develop self-driving cars.

　　日本汽车制造商丰田将向优步投资5亿美元(3.87亿英镑),以巩固合作伙伴关系，共同开发自动驾驶汽车。

　　The firm said this would involve the "mass-production" of autonomous vehicles that would be deployed on Uber’s ride sharing network.

　　丰田表示，合作将涉及将部署在优步的共享乘车网络上的自动驾驶汽车的“量产”。

　　It is being viewed as a way for both firms to catch up with rivals in the competitive driverless car market.

　　这项合作被两家公司视为在竞争激烈的无人驾驶汽车市场上追赶竞争对手的重要方式。

　　The deal also values Uber at some $72bn, despite its mounting losses.That is up 15% since its last investment in May but matches a previous valuation in February.

　　尽管优步亏损不断上升，本次交易中对她的估值依然达到了720亿美元，这比5月份上次投资以来上涨了15%，但与先前2月份的市场估值相符。

　　According to a press release issued by the firms, self-driving technology from each company will be integrated into purpose-built Toyota vehicles.

　　根据两家公司的消息，两家公司各自的自动驾驶技术将被整合以生产专用的丰田汽车。

　　The fleet will be based on Toyota’s Sienna Minivan model with pilot trials beginning in 2021.

　　专用的汽车将以丰田 Sienna Minivan 车型为基础，2021年开始试驾。

　　Shigeki Tomoyama, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Corporation, said: "This agreement and investment marks an important milestone in our transformation to a mobility company as we help provide a path for safe and secure expansion of mobility services like ride-sharing."

　　丰田汽车公司执行副总裁友山茂树(Shigeki Tomoyama)表示：“这项协议和投资标志着我们向机动型公司转型的一个重要里程碑，因为我们帮助提供安全可靠的移动服务扩展之路，例如共享乘车。”

　　Both Toyota and Uber are seen as lagging behind in developing self-driving cars, as firms such as Waymo, owned by Alphabet, steam ahead.

　　外界认为丰田和优步在开发自动驾驶汽车方面处于落后，因为如Alphabet所拥有的Waymo等公司已经领先了。

　　Uber has also scaled back its self-driving trials after a fatal crash in Tempe, Arizona, in March, when a self-driving Uber SUV killed a pedestrian.

　　在3月份在亚利桑那州坦佩发生致命事故后，优步限制了无人驾驶汽车试验，当时一辆自动驾驶的优步SUV撞死了一名路人。

　　Since then, the ride-hailing giant has removed its autonomous cars from the road and closed its Arizona operations.

　　自此这家乘用车巨头就暂停了她的无人驾驶汽车上路试验并终止了亚利桑那计划。

　　Analysis: Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter, San Francisco

　　BBC北美技术记者戴夫.李(Dave Lee)发自旧金山的分析

　　Uber’s troubled self-driving car efforts are in need of external help, and this deal with Toyota might provide that expertise. It’s of course a terrific opportunity for Toyota, too.

　　优步的无人驾驶汽车发展陷入困境，亟需外部援助，恰好这项交易的另一方丰田可能会提供优步需要的专业技术。当然这对丰田来说也是极好的机会。

　　It was reported earlier this month that Uber was sinking around $1m-$2m into its autonomy work every single day. The results of that effort have not been something to be proud of - one fatal crash, one very expensive lawsuit, and not a lot of self-driving compared to the leader in this sector, Waymo.

　　据本月早些时候有报道称，优步每天在无人驾驶汽车上投入约100万至200万美元。这项努力的结果并不值得骄傲--一次致命的事故，一场非常昂贵的诉讼，而且与该领域的领导者Waymo相比，并没有太多的自我驾驶项目上的进展。

　　Sharing the burden, and R&D cost, will delight Uber’s investors as it aims for its initial public offering next year.

　　既然优步明年计划实行首次公开募股，那么能够找到丰田来分担压力和研发成本将会使她的投资者们感到满意。

　　Meanwhile, shares in Toyota spiked at reports of the deal. Not surprising. Many analysts think personal car ownership will drop dramatically when the self-driving, ride-sharing future is fully upon us - with major companies instead purchasing enormous fleets of vehicles. Toyota, then, may have just secured its biggest ever customer.

　　与此同时，丰田的股票随交易的报道飙升。并不奇怪。许多分析师认为，当无人驾驶汽车、乘车共享的未来完全到来时，个人汽车拥有量将大幅下降--大公司反而会购买大量车辆。那时，丰田可能会赢得有史以来最大的客户。

　　The deal extends an existing relationship with Toyota, and furthers Uber’s strategy of developing autonomous driving technology through partnerships.

　　该协议深化了与丰田的现有关系，并进一步推动了优步通过合作伙伴关系开发自动驾驶技术的战略。

　　The US firm has also teamed up with Daimler, which hopes to own and operate its own self-driving cars on Uber’s network.

　　此外，优步还与希望能在其平台拥有并运行自己的无人驾驶汽车的戴姆勒公司开展合作。

　　On Monday, Uber said it planned to focus more on its electric scooter and bike business in future, and less on cars - despite the fact it could hurt profits.

　　周一优步表示计划未来更多地关注其电动滑板车和自行车业务，而不是汽车业务--尽管这么做可能会损失利润。

　　Revenue from its taxi business is rising but the cost of expansion into new areas such as bike sharing and food delivery has meant losses have grown rapidly.

　　其出租车业务的营收在增长，但扩张到共享单车和外卖等新领域的成本意味着损失的迅速增长。