Toyota Motor Corp’s electric vehicle coalition has been joined by two more automakers in Japan. Suzuki Motor Corp and Daihatsu are joining a commercial EV coalition which is led by Toyota, the two announced on Wednesday. With this, the commercial vehicle coalition will expand its focus from trucks to smaller cars. The two automakers will each acquire a 10% stake in the joint venture, on par with Isuzu Motors and Hino Motors, while Toyota will hold a 60% stake, a Reuters report stated.
“With Suzuki and Daihatsu joining the project and working together, we’ll be able to expand our circle of cooperation to not only cover commercial vehicles but also mini vehicles,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda, said.
“With this expansion, I believe that we’ll be able to take one step closer to a better mobility society,” Toyoda said.
The move comes as Japanese automakers face growing competition from tech giants and other rivals making electric and driverless cars.
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Toyota, Isuzu and Hino launched the Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation in April to bolster their competitive edge in connected, commercial vehicles. read more
Daihatsu’s president Soichiro Okudaira said joining the pact and introducing connected, mini-commercial vehicles would allow data sharing, a major benefit for companies to provide better services to customers and improve logistics efficiency.
In related news, Suzuki Motor Corp recently announced that it will enter the electric vehicle (EV) market by 2025 starting in its stronghold market India. The automaker plans an all-electric compact model to be made available for around 1.5 million yen ($13,626 or Rs 10-11 lakh) after government subsidies are taken into account.
