Toyota's president said yesterday that a tie-up with US rival General Motors on fuel-cell vehicles is in its final stages -- but promised to do his best to beat GM and Ford.
"They are good competition. We don't want to lose," Katsuaki Watanabe said of GM and Ford Motor Co in a group interview with foreign media.
Watanabe, 63, whose appointment was approved at a shareholders meeting last month, is taking the helm as the Japanese automaker is on a pace to potentially surpass GM, the world's largest carmaker, in global sales.
Toyota, based in the central city of Toyota, aims to capture 15 percent of the world's market in the years following 2010. Depending on how the rivals fare, that could put Toyota ahead of GM.
Watanabe said it's just a matter of time before details can be hammered out for a deal with Detroit-based General Motors Corp on fuel cells -- a clean technology that is still largely experimental.
Fuel-cell vehicles emit virtually no pollution because they run on the energy produced when hydrogen stored in the fuel tank combines with oxygen in the air to make water.
GM and Toyota Motor Corp have a longtime partnership that does not involve stakes in each other. They run a plant together in California and have a 1999 pact to share technology. A deal on fuel-cell vehicles would be an important expansion of that agreement.
"We are in the final stages of the talks. It's better not to let the talks drag on," Watanabe said at the company's Tokyo office.
Toyota's continued growth at a time when both GM and Ford are stumbling has set off some concerns here about a possible backlash reminiscent of the trade tensions that emerged about two decades ago.
Watanabe brushed off the idea that Toyota may become the world's top-selling automaker during his tenure, laughing that he hasn't thought about it and he isn't even really expecting it, either.
His main mission is to keep stable growth going without compromising on day-to-day efforts, including improving quality control, training workers around the world and cutting costs, he said.
He denied that fears of a backlash were behind Toyota's recent decision to raise prices on several models in the US, including the hot-selling Camry compact. Watanabe has a reputation for being both a cost-cutter and price-cutter, so the higher US prices appear to run counter to his overall strategy.
Toyota looked at various factors such as costs, market conditions and profitability to make the decision, and the recent heavy discounting by US automakers was also studied, he said. Toyota decided such discounts weren't appropriate for their own cars, he said.
"We looked at the total picture and made the decision. And we think we can put up the numbers" in sales, he said.
Watanabe -- who is a karaoke and baseball fan -- said Toyota sees increasing hybrid production as key to expanding global sales.
Toyota is considering making a hybrid pickup truck, and the ideal would be an entire lineup of models in hybrids, he said.
Hybrids aren't as clean as fuel-cell vehicles, but they deliver better mileage than gas-engine vehicles by switching between an electric motor and gasoline engine. Toyota leads in the sector with its Prius and other models it has introduced as hybrids.
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
‘EXTREME PRESSURE’: Beijing’s goal is to ‘force Taiwan to make mistakes,’ Admiral Tang Hua said, adding that mishaps could serve as ‘excuses’ for launching a blockade China’s authoritarian expansionism threatens not only Taiwan, but the rules-based international order, the navy said yesterday, after its top commander said in an interview that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could blockade the nation at will. The object of Beijing’s expansionist activities is not limited to Taiwan and its use of pressure is not confined to specific political groups or people, the navy said in a statement. China utilizes a mixture of cognitive warfare and “gray zone” military activities to pressure Taiwan, the navy said, adding that PLA sea and air forces are compressing the nation’s defensive depth. The navy continues to
RSS