Top Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp and rival Nissan Motor Co said on Monday they would cooperate to develop “hybrid” systems in a move they said would speed up the spread of environmentally friendly cars.Hybrid vehicles combine an internal combustion engine with an electric motor to make them twice as fuel-efficient as ordinary cars of the same size. The tie-up—the first such agreement between the two companies—would last for at least 10 years and calls for Toyota to supply state-of-the-art hybrid system components to Nissan for an undisclosed fee. The automakers also agreed to exchange information and discuss joint development of hybrid system components in the longer term to boost efficiency and cut costs.“The two companies expect that this collaboration will contribute to further decreasing the cost of hybrid-vehicle components, which should boost the sales of hybrid vehicles around the world,” they said in a joint statement.The agreement is in line with Toyota’s aim to make ‘green’ technology available to any takers, but marks a slight change of heart for Japan’s third-biggest automaker, which had so far put less effort into hybrid technology and had therefore lagged far behind Toyota and Honda Motor Co in the field. Toyota and Honda, Japan’s number 2 carmaker, are the world’s only automakers to sell hybrid vehicles. “By sharing this technology with Toyota, we believe it will merit our customers by lowering costs,” Nissan executive vice president Nobuo Okubo said. (Reuters)
