BMW And Toyota To Make Announcement This Week

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Toyota and BMW will announce a closer alliance as early as Friday, The Nikkei [sub] and Tokyo scuttlebutt say. According to the Nikkei, the two will share Toyota’s hybrid and fuel cell technology. BMW will try seeking scale effects for its CFRP technology. TTAC will feature a closer look into Toyota’s carbon fiber capabilities once we have finished our own research.

BMW needs a new partner for its new energy plans because its relationship with PSA appears to be going down the tubes.

A news conference is expected for this Friday. Currently, the plans call for a news conference in Munich, the last one was in Tokyo.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • C P C P on Jun 27, 2012

    Plus one on Toyota moving towards more RWD vehicles. I don't BMW quality coming up any time soon. Not entirely sure where they got their cache' from in the first place. More like crape'...

    • See 2 previous
    • KixStart KixStart on Jun 27, 2012

      @srogers Volt 230, Tilt at windmills, much?

  • 70Cougar 70Cougar on Jun 27, 2012

    If I could get a car that looks and drives like a BMW with the price and reliability of a Toyota, I'd be on that like stink on %#&*@. Make mine a diesel stick shift wagon with ostrich skin interior.

  • Wsn Wsn on Jun 27, 2012

    1) FWD or RWD, that's a design choice. If you are an end user, that should not be what you ask for. If you want better handling, just ask for handling. As there could potentially be FWD designs that handles better than RWD. 2) There are plenty of RWD car makers. Why does Toyota have to be one? Why don't you just buy a BMW straight out? End of story.

  • 84Cressida 84Cressida on Jun 27, 2012

    Why are people saying Toyota will now have the ability to make RWD cars? They've been making them for decades and have several excellent RWD platforms in production. They may be sold as Lexus, but they're still developed by the company. Toyota and Nissan know RWD very well. It's Honda that needs to make RWD, since they've hardly made any in their entire existance.

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