Toyota And Suzuki Likely To Form R&D-Sharing Alliance

The automotive world is moving towards a cleaner, greener and safer tomorrow with several projects working towards autonomous, zero-emission vehicles. As you’d expect, research and development (R&D) facilities aren’t cheap to run, especially if they involve designing the future of the industry. This is the primary reason why several companies across the globe are partnering with each other to co-develop their version of future automobiles. A similar partnership is on the cards between two of the world’s most renowned automakers, Toyota and Suzuki. The two Japanese carmakers have entered into talks about sharing R&D, possibly in the field of autonomous tech.

According to a report published by Reuters, Suzuki Chairman Osamu Suzuki said the company has been struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of R&D. At a press conference, he said, “R&D in the auto industry is changing rapidly. The future looks perilous.” On the other hand, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda added, “The technology race in the auto industry has been escalating at a pace we’ve never seen before. In a situation like this, there are limits to what any one company can do on their own. There is a reason why partnerships are becoming increasingly important.”

If all goes well, Suzuki, which has not announced any plans to work in the areas of self-driving tech and artificial intelligence, stands to gain the most from this partnership. That’s because Toyota is already working hard to bring its self-driving tech for the masses by 2020. What Suzuki will bring to the table is its expertise in making affordable and compact cars. However, Toyota bought Daihatsu for the same purpose. The talks between Suzuki and Toyota are in the preliminary stage; so the grounds on which the two companies might form an alliance on hasn’t been decided yet.

This isn’t the first time that Toyota will partner with an auto major. It has collaborated with Mazda, Subaru, and most recently BMW. In this partnership, BMW will concentrate on its replacement for the Z4 sports car, while Toyota will use the same facility to develop its highly anticipated Supra sports car. 

Suzuki, on the other hand, has a forgettable history of collaborations, especially the deal that fell through with German auto giant Volkswagen. But the Japanese automaker has a major stake in the Indian car firm Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.