Toyota in talks with Daimler on hybrid car technology tie-up: sources

NAGOYA, Sept. 16 Kyodo -
Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. is in talks with Germany's Daimler AG to form an
alliance under which Toyota may license Daimler to produce gasoline-electric
hybrid vehicles, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Daimler would be the fourth automaker in the world to introduce hybrid vehicle
technology from Toyota, following Nissan Motor Co., Ford Motor Co. and Mazda
Motor Corp.
Toyota is a leading automaker in hybrid technology development. The Prius is
one of its most popular hybrids.
Daimler has proposed the alliance in an apparent bid to take advantage of
Toyota's know-how for its efficient development of eco-friendly vehicles, the
sources said.
The German carmaker, though selling hybrid vehicles, has lagged behind other
automakers in developing such vehicles as diesel cars have been their mainstay
eco-friendly vehicles in Europe.
Toyota is considering providing Daimler with motors, batteries, other key
hybrid vehicle components and the hybrid production license, the sources said.
Daimler is also interested in Toyota's development of fuel cell vehicles, they
said.
==Kyodo