Toyota Motor Corporation
02 September 2002
For Immediate Release September 2, 2002
Toyota Motor Corporation
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Toyota and Nissan Agree to Tie Up on Hybrid Technologies
- 'Basic Agreement' for Long-term Transaction Includes Technical Cooperation -
Tokyo - TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (Toyota) and NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD. (Nissan)
have concluded a basic agreement on the long-term, continuous transaction of
hybrid systems including technical cooperation. This agreement was made
possible by both companies having found common ground in terms of philosophy and
outlook in their discussion on the future popularization of hybrid vehicles.
This agreement, aiming for a long-term business relationship of 10 years or
longer, calls for Toyota to supply state-of-the-art hybrid system components to
Nissan. In addition, aiming for long-term technological cooperation, both
companies have also agreed to start exchanging information and discussing joint
development of components related to hybrid systems that both Toyota and Nissan
are currently developing independently.
As an initial project, Nissan will be installing a hybrid system currently under
development by Toyota in Nissan's vehicles to be sold in the United States in
2006. Volume is expected to reach approximately 100,000 units within a
five-year period starting in 2006. The components for the hybrid system, such
as the transaxle and inverter, will be developed by Toyota, while Nissan will
conduct development of its own engine and application of the hybrid system on
its own vehicle, which will have a direct impact on Nissan's product.
Toyota was among the first automakers to introduce hybrid vehicles to its
lineup, with the launch of the Prius in 1997. It is now the world's biggest
seller of hybrid vehicles, with cumulative sales of 120,000 units of the Prius,
Coaster Hybrid (since 1997), Estima Hybrid (since 2001) and Crown Mild Hybrid
(since 2001). With the strong belief that environmentally friendly
technologies, such as hybrid systems, should be widely available, Toyota has
been developing and expanding the use of such technologies in its product
lineup, and, at the same time, has stated its intentions to make such
technologies available to other car manufacturers upon request.
Nissan has also been actively promoting effective environmental related
technologies in its products, such as the promotion of Ultra Low-Emission
Vehicles (U-LEV), which were first introduced in its Bluebird Sylphy and Sentra
CA models, making them the cleanest gasoline-fueled vehicles in the world. As
for hybrid vehicles, the company sold a limited number of Tino Hybrid models in
2000 and created a department to deal exclusively with the improvement of fuel
efficiency, including hybrid technology, in February 2001.
The major advantages of hybrid vehicles as environmentally friendly vehicles are
low CO2 emission and cleaner exhaust gas. With the ongoing improvement in
driving performance, the demand for hybrid vehicles as attractive vehicles for
the 21st century is expanding. The two companies expect that this collaboration
will contribute further decreasing the cost of hybrid-vehicle components, which
should lead to boosting the sales of hybrid vehicles around the world.
# # #
Contact:
Public Affairs Division Global Communications
& Investor Relations Department
Toyota Motor Corporation Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
(03) 3817-9158/61 (03) 5565-2141
This information is provided by RNS
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