BMW, Toyota Co-Developing New Sports Car

BMW AG and Toyota Motor Corp. are about three years away from introducing jointly developed, hybrid-powered sports cars, the Financial Times reports.

The two companies have been building a powertrain development partnership since BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroen decided last year to allow their small-engine development alliance expire. BMW and Toyota also collaborate on diesel engines, battery development and fuel-cell systems.

Herbert Diess, BMW's head of product development, tells the FT that the companies have agreed on a common platform. The architecture would be used to carry two separate models marketed under each company's brand.

The cars will be powered by hybrid powertrain technology derived from the system used in the Toyota Prius, according to the FT, which cites an unnamed source. The newspaper says the vehicle program will combine BMW's engineering prowess and high-performance engines with Toyota's know-how in hybrids and low-cost manufacturing.

Diess notes that collaborating on sports cars makes economic sense because such vehicles demand costly special architectures but generate relatively small sales volumes. Producing two variants of the same platform and combining their output helps offset development and production costs, he says.