Volkswagen in talks with Toyota on vehicle information services

April 3, 2002 Bloomberg news has reported that Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, said it's in talks with Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. to work together on developing information services for use in vehicles.

The world's third-biggest carmaker and Volkswagen are in discussions on setting up information services for installation in cars and trucks in Europe, said Kurt Rippholz, a Volkswagen spokesman, responding to reports in German and Japanese media in the past two days. He didn't provide details.

Toyota already cooperates with Volkswagen rival PSA Peugeot Citroen, the No. 2 carmaker in Europe. Peugeot and Toyota formed a venture last year to build a $1.2 billion factory in the Czech Republic to produce 300,000 small cars annually as of 2005.