Mazda May Be Talking to Toyota About Hybrids

Mazda may be in talks with Toyota to develop hybrid vehicles for their line-up.
Mazda May Follow Suzuki, Mitsubishi With Alliance (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

Mazda has said it plans to introduce its own hybrid car, yet it also is in talks to use Toyota’s system, said Koji Endo, managing director of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo.

Supplying the system would add volume and cut costs for Toyota, Endo said.

“Even if there were talks of any alliance, I wouldn’t be able to speak about it,” Toyota Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada said Dec. 14.

Mazda, like other car makers, are being pushed towards fuel efficiency technology and developing a hybrid system on their own may be just too expensive to do it on their own.

The article points out Mazda has been working with Ford primarily for years as Ford owned a sizeable stake in the company. But with Ford selling off a big chunk, Mazda will need to look to other car companies to partner with in order to move forward.