Toyota Motor Corp. is considering sharing its hybrid technology with Mazda Motor Corp., a move that would help the Toyota system become the industry standard in the eco-car market, sources said Thursday.
A senior Toyota executive said the company is in talks with Mazda and has received requests from other automakers for tie-ups concerning its hybrid technology.
Toyota, the world's largest automaker, let Ford Motor Co. use its patented hybrid technology in 2004. The Japanese automaker started providing its hybrid system to Nissan Motor Co. in 2006.
If an agreement is reached with Toyota, Mazda, which plans to introduce hybrid vehicles in the first half of the 2010s, will be able to catch up with other automakers in the field.
For Toyota, such tie-ups bring economy of scale and reduce the costs of its own hybrid vehicles.
Moreover, the spread of its technology will help Toyota's hybrid system become a dominant force in the eco-car market, where various kinds of technology exist.
Toyota's hybrid system combines a gasoline engine and an electric motor. It is energy efficient because it converts energy that arises when a vehicle slows down into electricity, which is stored in a battery and used as motive power.An exclusive video for this article is available at the following link:
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