Ford And Toyota

[Calisto]

The Times January 18, 2007

Toyota prepared to forge a technical alliance with Ford

Christine Buckley, Industrial Editor

Toyota, the world’s second-biggest carmaker, would be open to a partnership with Ford if its US rival offered the right terms, the president of the Japanese company said.

Katsuaki Watanabe made his comment only weeks after Fujio Cho, the chairman of Toyota, met Alan Mulally, the chief executive of Ford, in Japan. Mr Watanabe told The Nikkei Business Daily that an alliance between Ford and Toyota would be likely to focus on technological development. A spokeswoman for Toyota later ruled out a full-blown merger between the two.

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The suggestion of collaboration comes as Toyota is about to overtake General Motors in global sales to become the world’s biggest carmaker. GM said yesterday that it had sold 9.09 million cars and trucks last year, a drop of 1 per cent from 2005. Toyota, which has said that it expects to have sold 9.04 million vehicles last year, is poised to take the lead after capacity cutbacks by GM last year.

Ford noted that it was “always interested in partnerships or alliances over mutual interests”. Bill Ford, the chairman, has said in the past that the company is keen on forging alliances. However, Ford sources believe that Mr Mulally, who was appointed last autumn, may take a more independent view. He ruled out a full alliance with Renault- Nissan when market speculation linked the businesses.

Industry analysts have said that Ford and Toyota could complement each other with product line-up and that Ford would benefit from more environmentally friendly technology from Toyota. Ford is considering developing plug-in hybrid cars that would use a rechargeable Battery as the source of power. GM is also reviving its plans for a mass-market electric car.

Joint alliances for development are becoming more popular in the car industry as companies seek to share the expense of development. The pressure to do this is increasing amid pressure from car prices.

Last year Kirk Kerkorian, the dissident GM shareholder, tried to push the US carmaker into an alliance with Renault-Nissan. However, talks failed when GM concluded that it would not get adequate financial benefit from such a deal. GM is in talks about taking a stake in Proton, the state-controlled Malaysian car company, Rick Wagoner, the chief executive of GM, said yesterday.

Peugeot Citroën was one of the first carmakers to recognise global alliances as a cornerstone of expansion. It struck its first deal with Renault, its French rival, in 1966 and still works with the company on engines. It also co-operates with Fiat, Ford and Toyota.

Team effort

Carmakers’ alliances include:

# General Motors with Suzuki, Daewoo, Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation and AvtoVAZ

# Ford with Toyota, Peugeot Citroën, Fiat, Getrag and Otosan

# Toyota with Isuzu, Subaru, Peugeot Citroën, Nissan, Ford, Mazda, BMW and VW

# Peugeot Citroën with Renault, Fiat, Toyota, Ford, BMW and Mitsubishi

# BMW with Peugeot Citroën, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors and Toyota

What ever next eh ?

[Leeky]

See i saw this coming... i like sitting here on the fence being an owner of both brands

[Carrera_C]

Sounds odd to me, ok I don't know all the details, infact I probably know very few, but I can't really see what Toyota have to gain from it.

[skyliner34]

I hope it doesn’t go like the Renault-Nissan alliance. Nissan's have gone down hill since the partnership. My Dad has owned loads of Nissan's back to the Datsun days. He brought a new Primera 3 years ago and a new Micra about a year ago. And both of them have little problems, funny enough the problems are with Renault parts! tut tut tut :(. Never had any problems with Nissan before the partnership. That’s why I brought a Toyota :)