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Report: Toyota, Mazda May Partner on U.S. Car Plant

Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. plan to take equity positions in each other that could lead to a jointly operated auto assembly plant in the U.S., sources tell The Nikkei.

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Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. plan to take equity positions in each other that could lead to a jointly operated auto assembly plant in the U.S., sources tell The Nikkei. Details may be announced by the carmakers on Friday.

Toyota will buy roughly 5% of Mazda, and Mazda will make an unspecified investment in Toyota, according to the newspaper. It says the carmakers plans to erect a new factory somewhere in the southern U.S. with annual capacity to make about 300,000 SUV/crossover vehicles.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to “explore various areas of collaboration,” according to Toyota’s board, which declined to elaborate.

Toyota already uses local plants to produce half the vehicles it sells in the U.S. But Mazda, which supplies the American market from facilities in Japan and Mexico, lacks an assembly plant in the U.S. Mazda also assembles Toyota’s Yaris minicar in Mexico.

The partnership also would involve joint development of technologies for electric vehicles, The Nikkei says.

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