Toyota and Suzuki are reportedly in talks for a potential partnership. Toyota Motor Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. are strengthening their relationship by taking stakes in one another, the latest alliance in an industry thats facing sweeping changes in technology, consumer preferences and business models.Japans biggest automaker will acquire about 5 per cent of Suzuki shares for about 96 billion yen (US$907 million), while Suzuki will get a smaller holding valued at about 48 billion yen in Toyota, the automakers said in statements Wednesday.The move builds on ties established two years ago between the two carmakers and is aimed at expanding their collaboration to keep up with electric and self-driving cars, as well as growing demand for on-demand rides and new businesses that are reinventing how people get from A to B.For Toyota, the deal adds yet another automaker to the companys expanding portfolio of partnerships, which includes Mazda Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp.Suzuki said it will use 20 billion yen of the proceeds on development of new technologies including autonomous driving, and the remainder to replenish its capital. Suzuki is seeking to team up with a larger carmaker after an acrimonious split with Volkswagen. Toyota has budgeted about seven times more on research and development than Suzuki for this fiscal year, and the smaller automaker has pointed to the soaring cost of making competitive cars as a reason to join forces with a partner.Alliances are becoming ever more critical in the global auto industry, as manufacturers seek to pool resources and save costs. Ford has teamed up with Volkswagen, while Honda and General Motors are working together. Theres also the three-way alliance of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, which has been on shaky ground since the arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn in
Origin: Toyota, Suzuki to deepen ties, forming alliance
alliance
Toyota and Suzuki confirm details of new ‘Alliance’
Toyota and Suzuki have announced plans to acquire a financial stake in eachother’s operations, as part of a move towards a collaborative development programme. Toyota plans to take a 4.94% stake in Suzuki at a cost of £743,328,000 for 24,000,000 shares of common stock. Suzuki, meanwhile, will invest roughly £372,000,000 in Toyota. The deal is awaiting approval from the foreign competition authorities. The difference in investment amounts reflects Toyota’s inflated value; in 2018, the company became the first Japanese firm to achieve annual sales of 30 trillion yen (£232,340,271,000), while Suzuki achieved roughly a tenth of that, at 3,871.5 billion yen (£28,273,533,075). A statement from Toyota read: “The two companies intend to achieve sustainable growth, by overcoming new challenges surrounding the automobile sector by building and deepening cooperative relationships in new fields while continuing to be competitors, in addition to strengthening the technologies and products in which each company specializes and their existing business foundations. “Specifically, to take up challenges together in this transitional era, the two companies plan to establish and promote a long-term partnership between the two companies for promoting collaboration in new fields, including the field of autonomous driving.” In March, the two companies announced the first details of a new wide-ranging collaboration, which will involve Toyota producing Suzuki-badged hybrid vehicles based on the RAV4 and Corolla estate for the European market. The deal will include Suzuki vehicles being built at Toyota’s Derbyshire plant. The two Japanese firms signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a partnership in 2017, and have now agreed ‘concrete details’ of the deal. The two firms say the agreement will bring together “Toyota’s strength in electrification technologies and Suzuki’s strength in technologies for compact vehicles”. The agreement is also designed to help both firms “grow in new fields”, and will include joint collaboration in production and electrified vehicles. Toyota and Suzuki say they will “continue to fairly and freely compete against each other”. Both firms have given details on a number of specific projects in which they will collaborate, split into three strands. Toyota will supply its hybrid powertrain system to Suzuki at a global level, and will supply Suzuki with two new electrified vehicles based on the RAV4 and Corolla wagon for the European market. The two new models, both due on sale in late 2020, will be additions to Suzuki’s current range, rather than replacing any current model. The Corolla-based vehicle will be built at Toyota’s Burnaston plant in Derbyshire alongside the new Corolla, with production starting in late 2020. The hybrid powertrains will be made at the firm’s Deeside engine plant. The addition of the new model is not expected to add to the 3200 people employed across the two sites. Toyota has invested more than £2.75 billion in its UK operations, and the head of the firm’s UK manufacturing division, Marvin Cooke, said the move “demonstrates Toyota’s trust in the capability of our workforce to deliver the highler levels of superior quality products.” He added: “Seeking to produce additional volume for other manufacturers is one example of all the efforts we are making to keep our UK manufacturing operations as competitive as they can be.” Toyota will also adopt Suzuki’s newly developed compact vehicle engines in the European market. These engines will be manufactured at Toyota’s facility in Poland. Toyota said it was too early to determine which models would get the engines. The two firms will work to develop hybrid vehicles for the Indian market. Suzuki will also supply Toyota with two compact vehicles based on the Ciaz and Ertiga for the Indian market, and four vehicles in the African market. In addition, Toyota and Suzuki have agreed to collaborate on the development of a C-segment SUV for India, with Toyota taking on production of the Suzuki Vitara Brezza for that market. Toyota boss Akio Toyoda said: “We believe that the expansion of our business partnership with Suzuki – from the mutual supply of vehicles and powertrains to the domains of development and production – will help give us the competitive edge we need to survive this once-in-a-century period of profound transformation.” Suzuki boss Osamu Suzuki added: “We appreciate the kind offer from Toyota to let us make use of their hybrid
Origin: Toyota and Suzuki confirm details of new ‘Alliance’
Jaguar Land Rover and BMW to extend alliance plans
The recently agreed alliance between Jaguar Land Rover and BMW is set to be extended to include internal combustion engines, a source with knowledge of recent high-level discussions between the two car makers has told Autocar. The two firms initially agreed to work together on the development of electrified powertrains, but according to sources they have now agreed terms on what is described as a “more far-reaching deal involving petrol, diesel and hybridised drivelines” for a wide range of models. According to Autocar’s sources, BMW is to supply Jaguar Land Rover with internal combustion engines, including in-line four- and six-cylinder units “both with and without electrically-assisted hybrid functions”. The move is said to be aimed at allowing Jaguar Land Rover to reduce its on-going investment in petrol, diesel and hybrid drivelines and instead focus its research and development spending on the electric drivelines in partnership with BMW. For BMW the deal safeguards existing research and development, procurement and production operations by adding volume beyond its own brands, BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce. News of the internal combustion engine deal being forged by Jaguar Land Rover and BMW comes at a time when regulatory authorities in key global markets are raising emission standards with particular focus on CO2 and NOx levels to combat air pollution. Thus raising the level of spending required to engineer petrol, diesel and hybrid drivelines. By joining forces on both electric and internal combustion engine drivelines, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW hope to reap the rewards of increased economies of scale while sharing development costs to remain competitive. Last month the two companies announced they would jointly invest in research and development, engineering and procurement of drivelines for volume production electric
Origin: Jaguar Land Rover and BMW to extend alliance plans
Waymo to study driverless services with Renault-Nissan alliance
Autonomous Nissan Leaf Waymo agreed to explore driverless services with Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, pairing a leader in self-driving technology with the worlds largest automotive alliance.The three carmakers and Alphabet Inc.s autonomous-vehicle unit will study market opportunities and research legal and safety issues related to driverless transportation services in France and Japan, the companies said in a statement Thursday.The deal doesnt extend to cooperation producing robo-vehicles.Were convinced that with this added expertise, well be able to position ourselves for autonomous services that are viable for customers, Hadi Zablit, senior vice-president for business development at the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, told reporters in Paris.When it comes to implementation, the three automakers wont necessarily offer services in common with Waymo, he said.The French-Japanese alliance produced more than 10 million vehicles last yearon a par with the biggest carmakers: Volkswagen and Toyota.Unlike Waymos previously announced deals with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Tata Motors Jaguar Land Rover, the partnership with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi doesnt include supplying any cars.Waymos parent company, Alphabet, struck a separate deal with the three-way partnership last September, giving its Google Android operating system access to their vehicle dashboards starting in 2021.The new agreement marks a first step toward developing long-term, profitable driverless-vehicle services for passengers and deliveries, the companies said. While the analysis will take place first in France and Japan, they said it may expand to other markets excluding China in the
Origin: Waymo to study driverless services with Renault-Nissan alliance
VW nears self-driving deal with Ford, exits Aurora alliance
Fords promised to build an autonomous, ride-sharing car by 2021.Ford Volkswagen ended a self-driving technology partnership with Silicon Valley startup Aurora Innovation Inc. as it draws closer to a broader collaboration on autonomous cars with Ford. “The activities under our partnership have been concluded,” a VW spokesman said of its alliance with Aurora in a statement Tuesday. The German manufacturer announced the tie-up with Aurora to develop autonomous-car technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last year to help boost its own activities spearheaded by the Audi premium-car unit. Meanwhile, months of negotiations with Ford and its autonomous affiliate Argo AI are near fruition and a deal could be announced as early as July, people familiar with the situation said. Most of the thorniest issues have been resolved and the two companies envision a comprehensive collaboration creating a global colossus in the self-driving space, these people said. The partnership would rival Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise unit in ambition and scope, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified revealing internal discussions. Self-driving cars have emerged as key battleground between automakers and technology giants in the race to develop robo-taxis and driverless delivery vehicles. These programs require investments in the billions of dollars, while regulatory frameworks vary across the globe, complicating testing and deployment. Volkswagen and Ford, which agreed to co-produce vans and pickups earlier this year, have been discussing an investment in Argo AI, the Ford-backed autonomous vehicle startup, people familiar with the talks have said. The automakers discussed an approximate valuation for Argo of US$4 billion, one of the people said. Ford said its talks with Volkswagen are ongoing but did not provide specifics on the extent of progress. “Discussions have been productive across a number of areas. We’ll share updates as details become more firm,” it said in a statement. VW declined to comment on the status of the talks. Aurora, which raised over half a billion dollars in February from backers including Sequoia Capital and Amazon.com Inc., announced on Monday it will partner with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to develop and deploy a fleet of self-driving commercial vehicles. The company is the brainchild of Sterling Anderson, the former director of autonomy for Tesla Inc.; Drew Bagnell from Uber Technologies Inc.; and Chris Urmson, who headed Alphabet’s self-driving car project before it was named
Origin: VW nears self-driving deal with Ford, exits Aurora alliance
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