Japan's Toyota open to sharing hybrid vehicle technology with General Motors

Monday, May 9th 2005, 9:46 am

By: News On 6

TOKYO (AP) _ Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that it was willing to discuss sharing its hybrid vehicle technology with rivals, including U.S. automaker General Motors Corp.

``If another company _ not just GM but other automakers too _ were to express an interest in the technology, we would not turn that down. We would be willing to open discussions,'' Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda was quoted by Toyota spokesman Tomomi Imai as saying.

Okuda's comments follow GM's denial Sunday of an online news report, which said the two automakers were in talks about a possible technology-sharing pact that could result in a quicker, wider offering of hybrid vehicles.

Imai also denied that Toyota and GM were already in talks.

Toyota and rival Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co., dominate the expanding market for fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, which run on a combination of electricity and gasoline.

In December, GM and DaimlerChrysler AG said they were teaming up to develop fuel-saving hybrid engines in hopes of cashing in on that market.

GM has been losing sales in the U.S. to Toyota and other Asian rivals and has faced enormous health care and post-retirement liabilities.