Ford Motor, Co. said it will have to end its partnership with Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s largest automobile maker, to create gasoline-electric systems for trucks and sport-utility vehicles.
Raj Nair, Ford’s product development chief confirmed with The Wall Street Journal that Ford is on its way to bring its rear-wheel-drive hybrid system to market soon. Toyota and Dearborn, a Michigan-based Ford, mutually agreed to end their collaboration after the research and development phase.
“Both parties gained from each other’s expertise and insight.” We’ve developed a lot of expertise in-house and determined we could deliver the system on our own.” Nair added but refusing to be more detailed on the timing.
Ford CEO Allan Mulally and President Akio Toyoda of Toyota personally discussed their tie-up before the two automobile companies publicized their partnership last August 2011. Since then, Ford’s sale in the U.S. of hybrid and plug-in versions of Fusion sedan and the C-Max wagon increased, thus challenging Toyota’s Prius, which topped the market for more than 10 years.
Japan-based Toyota and Ford will still work together on standards for communication systems and in-car technology. They even signed an agreement in China stating that they will share emergency and customer-call centers, Nair said.
In the U.S., Toyota has sold more than two million hybrid cars and light trucks, making up 70 percent of all such sales in the region, the company had announced yesterday.
Ford and Toyota, however, have declined to say which will be used in developing hybrid technology.
Ford was the largest recipient of low-interest federal loans aimed at producing more fuel-efficient vehicles. In 2009, it was granted $5.9 billion worth of loans by the Energy Department that is now used in creating products including its hybrids.
Ford fell 0.6 percent to $16.94 at the close yesterday and Toyota’s American depositary receipts slipped 0.6 percent to $129.48.
