Toyota Motor Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. today agreed to start discussions on undertaking new joint projects for technological and market development, and vehicle production.
As part of the new arrangement, Toyota will offer Suzuki the technology to develop a new compact and highly efficient car engine for India and other global markets, Toyota said in a media statement today. “The companies will now be pursuing a concrete form of cooperation having announced the mutual supply of vehicles for the Indian market,” Toyota said.
Both the manufacturers have been pursuing concrete forms of cooperation for development of hybrid and electric cars over the last year and have also announced the mutual supply of vehicles for the Indian market. Toyota would supply the Corolla to Suzuki, which in turn would make the Baleno and Vitara Brezza models available for Toyota, Bloomberg had reported earlier.
The scope of the partnership, the two companies said today, will now go much beyond India, as both partners intend to use the alliance to tap into Africa and other global markets.
Toyota, along with Suzuki, will do its best to enhance freedom in terms of mobility and to make “Make in India” vehicles cherished in Africa and in many other countries around the world.
Akio Toyoda, President, Toyota
RC Bhargava, Chairman of Maruti Suzuki Ltd., the Japanese car maker’s Indian subsidiary, said Maruti will also be producing models which will be marketed through Toyota’s retail outlets with ‘appropriate branding’. “The details on margins and pricing of products have not yet been discussed,” he added.