Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp yesterday denied a report that it is considering offering its hybrid vehicle technology to struggling US giant GM.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported, without naming its sources, that Toyota would be ready to provide the technology if GM asks for it, even if the Detroit carmaker seeks bankruptcy protection.
But a Toyota official said the company was “not considering it.”
GM is working against a June 1 deadline to convince the US Treasury that it can achieve long-term viability or it could be forced to follow Chrysler into bankruptcy protection.
The Yomiuri said Toyota may provide GM with patented technology that is used in the Prius and some of its other vehicles to increase fuel economy by controlling the movement of the engine and the motor.
Toyota’s indirect support for GM’s reconstruction would benefit the Japanese firm as its hybrid technology would in effect become the de facto world standard, the report said.
Meanwhile, Toyota, which has expanded its US market share by more than half since 2002, was knocked from the top spot in a ranking of supplier relations in North America for the first time by Honda Motor Co.
Toyota came in second in the annual survey started in 2002 by consulting firm Planning Perspectives Inc. Among US automakers, Ford Motor Co climbed from the bottom two years ago to gain its largest lead over GM, while Chrysler ranked last for the second straight year.
The relationships matter because suppliers can help trim costs, improve performance and speed work on new models, often providing 70 percent of the content. Toyota, which has made cars in the US for more than 20 years, dropped from first place after a decade of broadening its lineup to more closely match US rivals’ and posting its first quarterly losses.
“Research we began in the early 1990s always showed Toyota as having the best relationship with its suppliers, but something seems to be changing,” said John Henke Jr, president of Planning Perspectives. “They’re looking a little more like US automakers.”
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