Cars to get social networking profiles

TOYOTA CITY, Japan, May 24 (UPI) -- Japanese car manufacturer Toyota said it is teaming with a U.S. company to create a social networking service for people to receive alerts from their cars.

Toyota and Salesforce.com said the Toyota Friend service will connect drivers with their cars, which will have full profiles on the site, and receive "chat" messages from the vehicle's profile about subjects including maintenance issues and driving directions, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

"Social networking services are transforming human interaction and modes of communication. The automobile needs to evolve in step with that transformation," said Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota.

Toyoda said the service will be able to send messages directly to smartphones and other mobile devices. The service is scheduled to make its debut in Japan next year.