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.

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.