Toyota considers assisting competition with technology

Last week, Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe (pictured) said at a news conference that Japan's largest automaker may be willing to partner with other automakers to assist in technologies with which they may be having difficulties. "There is the adequate possibility that we (Toyota) will form various types of alliances with others," he said, "if an automaker faces difficulties in meeting these needs single-handedly."

He did not state with which automakers Toyota might consider such alliances, though he did mention environmental, safety and telecommunications technologies as the areas of interest. Autoblog has reported on one such alliance between General Motors and Toyota on safety development.

Is Toyota being compassionate considering the lending of assistance to less financially fortunate companies? Or perhaps is that what the Japanese giant wants us to think.

[Source: Japan Economic Newswire via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge via TMCnet]