Toyota Seeks More Collaborations

Washington DC April 19, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that Jim Press, a Toyota managing officer who earlier this month was named a senior managing director of Toyota Motor Corp., said that collaboration was becoming "a big part of our industry" because of investment levels required for each auto maker to "keep up" with the ever escalating pace of the technology race.

"We would consider any kind of win-win ... cooperative relationship with interested entities," Mr. Press told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. Toyota, for example, supplies key components for a gasoline-electric version of the Nissan Altima.

One area it could explore tie-ups is lithium-ion batteries, to produce a new generation of super efficient gas-electric hybrid vehicles. Mr. Press's remarks came amid speculation that Toyota and Ford Motor Co. might be edging toward some form of alliance.

That possibility actually would bring a practical benefit to Toyota. That is because Toyota's momentum in establishing its gas-electric hybrid design as an industry standard has slowed. GM has lured German auto makers DaimlerChrysler AG and BMW AG into a powerful alliance to develop a hybrid system of their own that they say is simpler than Toyota's.