Toyota, Mazda team up on electric vehicles
TOKYO, Japan: Japanese auto giant Toyota said on Thursday it was teaming up with Mazda and parts-maker Denso in a new joint venture to develop electric vehicles.
Photo by Alessio Lin on Unsplash
The move came as Toyota, producer of bestselling hybrid vehicle Prius, steps up efforts to develop clean technologies, including electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid systems that use both petrol and electricity as energy sources.
Joint research - sharing cost, engineers and knowledge - is necessary to meet increasingly stringent but varying environmental standards around the world, the three firms said in a joint statement.
"With [electric vehicles] yet to find widespread market acceptance, the huge investments and time required to cover all markets and vehicle segments is a pressing issue for individual automakers," the statement said.
Toyota will take a 90% stake in the venture, to be launched next month in the central city of Nagoya, near the automaker's headquarters.
Toyota and Mazda agreed in August to a capital tie-up to facilitate joint development of electric vehicles.
Source: AFP