Leveraging Each Other's Strengths

Toyota Motor Corporation and the BMW Group signed a memorandum of understanding last December for mid-to-long-term cooperation in next-generation environmental vehicles and technologies. Based on this, it has already been decided that BMW-manufactured 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter diesel engines will be supplied to European Toyota vehicles starting in 2014. This can be seen as a highly beneficial agreement for Toyota, which has lagged behind in the development of small, clean diesel engines essential for mass-market vehicles in Europe.

This joint development of battery technology is the second initiative following that agreement.

Specifically, the research will focus on materials for the cathode, anode, and electrolyte with the aim of improving the performance of next-generation lithium-ion batteries.

BMW recentlyActiveHybrid 5launched theNorth American International Auto Show (Detroit)and in January of this year,ActiveHybrid 3had its world premiere. Alongside diesel, BMW is also focusing on hybrids. In this joint development, by cooperating with Toyota, which leads in hybrid technology, BMW aims to gain advantages such as reduced development time and costs, and to get ahead of other European manufacturers.

It can be said that Toyota and BMW are now complementing each other by contributing their respective areas of expertise.