Toyota to provide Subaru car maker with hybrid vehicle technology
Japan's top automaker Toyota Motor will provide hybrid-vehicle technology to Subaru-brand carmaker Fuji Heavy Industries, helping it
exploit the key North American market, a report said.
Toyota plans to supply its hybrid power system to Fuji Heavy, which will use it to make hybrids a mainline product in the North American
market, which accounts for 35 percent of its group sales, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.
Fuji Heavy on its part is considering supplying Toyota technology with lithium-ion batteries it has developed with electronics maker NEC for
use in hybrid vehicles, the economic daily said without citing sources.
Working-level talks on the technical cooperation have already been taking place, with Toyota president Cho Fujio and his Fuji Heavy
counterpart Kyoji Takenaka set to enter negotiation soon, it said.
No immediate comment on the report was available from Toyota.
Hybrids run on either its gasoline engine or on its electric motor depending on driving conditions, making them much more economical and
environmentally-friendly than conventional gasoline engines.
Toyota has pioneered the use of green technologies with its Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid car.
US auto giant General Motors, the top shareholder in Fuji Heavy with a 20 percent stake, has formed a partnership with German-US
DaimlerChrysler to jointly develop hybrid vehicle technology.
But the Nihon Keizai said that the alliance was likely to focus on technology for use in large vehicles rather than vehicles with engine
displacements of around three liters, Fuji Heavy's strength.