Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp are partnering in electric vehicles with a deal that might lead to setting up an assembly plant in the US.
The Japanese Nikkei business daily yesterday reported the agreement would include working toward setting up a US joint-venture plant and cooperation on electric vehicle technology.
Toyota plans to propose to its board a partnership with Mazda, it said in a statement without giving further details. Mazda declined comment.
Photo: EPA
A person briefed on the matter, who did not want to be identified because an official announcement has not been made, confirmed the partnership.
US President Donald Trump has been urging Toyota and other Japanese automakers to invest and build more vehicles in the US.
Using the same plant to build vehicles can improve cost-efficiency.
The electric vehicle market segment has become an increasingly competitive because of concerns about global warming and the environment.
Japanese rival Nissan Motor Co, which is allied with Renault SA of France and Mitsubishi Motors Corp, is the global leader in electric vehicles.
Two Japanese automakers are negotiating an agreement in which Toyota would take about a 5 percent stake in Mazda, the Nikkei reported.
Mazda would also take a stake in Toyota, the report said.
In 2015, Toyota and Mazda agreed to find new areas where they can work together, but they had not announced specifics.
Toyota already provides hybrid technology to Mazda, which also makes compact cars for Toyota at its Mexico plant.
A capital tie-up with Mazda would be the latest addition to Toyota’s sprawling empire, which includes Japanese truck maker Hino Motors and minicar maker Daihatsu Motor Co. It is also the top shareholder in Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru cars.
Toyota yesterday reported that its first quarter profit rose 11 percent as sales improved around the world, including in the US, Europe and Japan.
The company’s April-to-June profit of ￥613 billion (US$5.57 billion), up from ￥552.4 billion a year earlier. Quarterly sales rose 7 percent to ￥7.05 trillion.
Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid, Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, sold 2.2 million vehicles for the quarter, a year-on-year improvement of 42,000 vehicles.
Separately, workers at a Nissan auto assembly plant in Mississippi are voting on whether they want the United Auto Workers (UAW) union to bargain for them.
Voting among about 3,700 production workers at Nissan’s Canton assembly complex was to conclude at 7pm yesterday.
The National Labor Relations Board is conducting the secret-ballot election after workers filed for UAW representation last month.
The union has struggled to expand beyond its stronghold at Detroit automakers to foreign-owned plants, especially in the southern US.
Pro-union workers say the UAW would protect them against arbitrary treatment and would bargain for better benefits and pay, while opponents have focused on claims that the UAW has been an albatross for Detroit automakers.
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