Toyota, Mazda Reach Hybrid-License Deal

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it will license the hybrid technologies used in its flagship Prius car to Mazda Motor Co., in an encouraging move for the world's leading hybrid car maker as it continues to reel from global recall issues, The Wall Street Journal reported. Word of the deal came the same day that Toyota—the largest car maker by volume—reported a jump in global production for February, and a day before the first meeting of the company's special committee tasked with improving vehicle quality. Mazda will procure key components of Toyota's hybrid system under the agreement, including the electronic control unit. Mazda, in which Ford Motor Co. owns an 11 percent stake, will combine the system with its next-generation gasoline engine to launch a hybrid vehicle in Japan by 2013. The company hasn't decided yet whether to sell the model in other markets, said a Mazda spokesman. This is the third time that Toyota has struck a deal involving its hybrid business. It is supplying complete hybrid systems to Nissan Motor Co. and has a technology-licensing agreement with Ford. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the maker of Subaru-brand cars, also hopes to roll out a hybrid model by 2012 using Toyota's hybrid system. Toyota holds a 16 percent stake in Fuji Heavy. Producing components for Mazda will help Toyota lower costs through economies of scale. Mazda, which has so far lagged behind in offering advanced fuel-efficient cars, expects to be able to bring a hybrid car to market in a shorter time by using domestic suppliers of Toyota's technology. "We want to develop a hybrid car quickly," said Mazda Executive Vice President Masaharu Yamaki. The Hiroshima-based car maker currently sells a hybrid sport-utility vehicle in California that is powered by a Ford-designed system, and leases a self-developed hybrid minivan in Japan that runs on either hydrogen or gasoline.