Mexican Media Brands
Ford, Toyota Call Off Hybrid Truck Venture
Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. confirm they have ended talks to finalize a partnership to jointly develop hybrid technology for light trucks.
#hybrid
Share
Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. confirm they have ended talks to finalize a partnership to jointly develop hybrid technology for light trucks.
Ford product development chief Raj Nair told Bloomberg News last week that the joint venture was being scrapped.
The companies announced a framework agreement in August 2011, under which each planned to work separately to integrate the new hybrid powertrain into its vehicles after the co-development phase. Ford and Toyota predicted the rear-wheel-drive system would debut in SUVs and pickup trucks by mid-decade.
The Nikkei says Toyota couldn't build a solid business for the program, and Ford was reluctant to bypass its current suppliers to purchase common parts from Toyota vendors. The Japanese newspaper adds that relations between the would-be partners chilled when Ford opposed Japan's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks.
Ford and Toyota reportedly made scant progress on the project while venture talks dragged on. Nair tells reporters that each company now intends to complete system development independently. He says Ford aims to debut such vehicles by the end of this decade.
Nair adds that the two companies will continue a separate two-year-old partnership to collaborate on standards for in-vehicle technology and communications systems.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Internal Combustion Engines’ Continued Domination (?)
According to a new research study by Deutsche Bank, “PCOT III: Revisiting the Outlook for Powertrain Technology” (that’s “Pricing the Car of Tomorrow”), to twist a phrase from Mark Twain, it seems that the reports of the internal combustion engine’s eminent death are greatly exaggerated.
-
Chevy Develops eCOPO Camaro: The Fast and the Electric
The notion that electric vehicles were the sort of thing that well-meaning professors who wear tweed jackets with elbow patches drove in order to help save the environment was pretty much annihilated when Tesla added the Ludicrous+ mode to the Model S which propelled the vehicle from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds.
-
Aluminum Sheet for EV Battery Enclosure
As the number of electric vehicles (EVs) is about to increase almost exponentially, aluminum supplier Novelis is preparing to provide customers with protective solutions