Mazda agreeing to lease hybrid drivetrain technology from Toyota

Mazda announced today that it reached an agreement with Toyota in order to lease hybrid drivetrain technology.

Although it could easily chose its longtime U.S. partner Ford Motor Co, Mazda decided that Toyota is the best choice , due to the fact that the Prius, which was launched last year and is the world’s most popular hybrid vehicle. The new electric-gasoline powertrain will make its debut in 2013 in a new vehicle build by Mazda exclusively for the Japanese market.
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jeffy210 - 3/29/2010 1:44:01 PM

+1 Boost

Not trying to mince words here, but is that lease or license? Two completely different meanings.

uaw_lax - 3/29/2010 4:36:00 PM

-2 Boost

lets just hope they dont lease the pedals as well.

WorldofLuxury - 3/29/2010 5:42:09 PM

+1 Boost

wow... badgewhore... You should know that Ford's hybrid powerplant was developed independently - as far as we know and according the Ford themselves.

Nissan was the one who licensed hybrid technology from Toyota and suffered from getting only the most basic parts and knowledge.

FanboyOfTheTruth - 3/29/2010 5:47:16 PM

+2 Boost

WorldofLuxury:
What makes you say that? The Altima Hybrid performs every bit as well as the Camry Hybrid in terms of power and fuel efficiency. I fail to see how Nissan is only getting the most basic parts and knowledge from Toyota. Explain please.

Lemonade - 3/29/2010 9:53:22 PM

+1 Boost

uaw_lax,

What other idiot besides the UAW would even consider leasing gas pedals? I bet the big 3 must have that Toyota 'pedal joke' on a banner hanging over the entrance of every dealership/assembly plant in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

91z4me - 3/30/2010 8:57:37 AM

+1 Boost

Badgewhore and worldofluxury please read the following Wikipedia article which details Ford's work with Toyota license on its hybrid systems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Escape_Hybrid

To quote it for you: "The Escape Hybrid uses technology similar to that used in Toyota's Prius. Ford engineers realized their technology may conflict with patents held by Toyota, which led to a 2004 patent-sharing accord between the companies, licensing Ford's use of some of Toyota's hybrid technology[15] in exchange for Toyota's use of some of Ford's diesel and direct-injection engine technology.[16] Ford maintains that Ford received no technical assistance from Toyota in developing the hybrid powertrain, but that some hybrid engine technologies developed by Ford independently were found to be similar to technologies previously patented by Toyota, so licenses were obtained."

Vs the Altmia hybrid system: "The Altima Hybrid is Nissan's first hybrid car. When first introduced in 2007 and continuing through the 2009 model year, the Altima's hybrid-drive system is licensed from Toyota's hybrid technology. The company has asserted that subsequent hybrid models will be based on hybrid technology developed in-house."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Altima_Hybrid#Hybrid

So Ford developed technology that operated similarly and when produced may have infringed on Toyota's patent. So they licensed the technology so a lawsuit didn't happen. Nissan is using the Toyota system directly from Toyota and plans to develop its own technology in the future.

The two are completely different cases.

91z4me - 3/30/2010 3:37:24 PM

+1 Boost

Badgewhore, How did you get that out of those quotes? Do you honestly believe that Ford or any other automaker in the world (except for Toyota) are not capable of engineering a hybrid system? Why would Ford need to 'steal' Toyota's tech on the Gen1 system? They obviously found a better way with the Gen2 hybrid system (which doesn't license Toyota's patents).

Take off the blinders and really look at the situation without bias.