Toyota BMW agree to tie up

Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW AG announced Thursday they have agreed to collaborate in developing next-generation environmentally friendly technologies. Under the medium-to-long term partnership, the two sides will jointly research lithium-ion batteries, while the German automaker will start supplying from 2014 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter clean diesel engines to Toyota's European subsidiary for vehicles to be sold in the European market, they said. Speaking at a joint press conference in Tokyo, Toyota Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada said Toyota ''needed to expand its diesel (vehicle) lineup in Europe and thought (the two firms) can collaborate.'' The automakers aim to cut costs for developing core technologies for eco-friendly vehicles by complementing each other with their respective strengths while demand for such vehicles grows. ''Toyota and the BMW Group are perfect partners,'' said Klaus Draeger, a member of the board of management of BMW. In Europe, cars powered by clean diesel engines are predominant among green vehicles as they are seen as fuel efficient and therefore effective in cutting carbon dioxide emissions. BMW and other European automakers have their strength in diesel vehicles, and Toyota has already been verifying whether it can put BMW's diesel engine in its own passenger cars for the European market. Source: Reuters

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