GM, Toyota in talks on hybrids - AWSJ

TOKYO May 8, 2995; Reuters reported that auto makers General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. are in talks for a possible technology-sharing deal on hybrid vehicles, the Asian Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Citing individuals familiar with the talks, the newspaper said GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner was expected to meet Toyota's top officials when he visits Japan in mid-May.

The paper added that the details of the discussions, which would enable the companies to offer a wider range of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles sooner than if they worked on their own, remained sketchy.

A Toyota spokesman said he was trying to verify the report, adding that the two companies had long been cooperating in various fields.

GM, the world's biggest auto maker, and its U.S. peers have been struggling to maintain market share in the United States, losing it to Japanese rivals including Toyota.

Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda in April raised the possibility of upping prices to help struggling U.S. manufacturers, although the company said a day later that it would not take such a step.