Toyota pres. touts tie-up with Tesla over electric cars+

NAGOYA, May 22 Kyodo -
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said Saturday the top Japanese
automaker's partnership with Tesla Motors Inc. of the United States on
developing and producing electric vehicles has laid solid groundwork for
pursuing next-generation environmentally friendly cars.
Speaking to reporters, he also said Toyota ''will explore wide-ranging
possibilities'' in developing eco-cars such as fuel cell cars on top of its
trailblazing hybrids and electric vehicles to be developed with Tesla.
Toyota said Thursday it will jointly develop and produce EVs at a recently
closed plant in California with Tesla, with an eye to introducing their cars to
the U.S. market in 2012.
The Japanese automaker also said it will invest $50 million in Tesla and
cooperate with the Palo Alto, California-based electric automaker in developing
EVs as well as parts, production systems and engineering support.
Toyota and Tesla said they will produce the electric cars using part of the
former site of New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., a 50-50 joint venture of
Toyota and U.S. automaker General Motors Co.
Industry observers say that the decision by Toyota, which is reeling from
recent massive recalls of some of its models, to team up with Tesla aims to not
only maximize Tesla's technology but boost the Japanese automaker's image in
the United States, especially a market as big as California, by using the NUMMI
plant and hiring former workers.
The NUMMI plant was founded in 1984 at the height of Japan-U.S. auto trade
friction to pursue rapid expansion and was symbolic of cooperation between
Japanese and U.S. automakers.
==Kyodo
2010-05-22 23:13:18


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