Toyota and Mazda Enter Partnership to Share Technologies, Reduce Costs

Despite continuing recall issues, Toyota is still one of the biggest automakers in the world. Mazda meanwhile is an excellent example of a car company on a winning streak. Their partnership could help both stop the spiraling costs of developing new technologies, especially when it comes to pollution.

The agreement was announced on May 13th and shortly after being signed, a committee will be formed to find out how each company's strengths can benefit the venture. The announcement comes just as media reports indicated Mazda and Toyota would soon share engines.

Already, the first signs of collaboration can be seen, as the new Scion iA sedan is a rebadged Mazda2 with what some describe as the face of a catfish. Considering most of the cars sold in America by these two firms have the same engine displacements - 2.0 and 2.5 liters - the impact could be enormous.

It has also been long rumored that Mazda wants to license Toyota's hybrid systems for numerous projects, ranging from sportscars to SUVs. However, this memorandum is only the "spark of life", not a full-fledged partnership like Nissan and Renault have, so don't expect miracles soon.

The writing is on the wall in Japan: team up or die

Japan's once mighty car-making industry is facing ever stiffer competition from General Motors, Volkswagen Group and even premium companies like Daimler and Audi. They also have issues that have nothing to do with making cars, such as the currency fluctuations that hurt some manufacturers' competitive edge.

Subaru, famous for boxer engines and symmetrical all-wheel drive, has already paired up with Toyota. There's also that little issue of making fuel cell electric vehicles. If Ford, Nissan and Daimler need to work together on such a project, Mazda couldn't possibly do it alone.

But does the Zoom Zoom company actually need FCV? Probably not. In fact, in some ways Mazda is ahead of Toyota, such as high-compression petrol engines and super-lightweight construction. Hopefully, some KODO design will also rub off on Toyota!