Toyota, Mazda team up on e-vehicles

Tokyo: Japanese auto giant Toyota said on Thursday it was teaming up with Mazda and parts-maker Denso in a new joint venture to develop electric vehicles. The move came as Toyota, producer of bestselling hybrid vehicle Prius, steps up efforts to develop clean technologies, including electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid systems that use both petrol and electricity as energy sources. Joint research is necessary to meet increasingly stringent but varying environmental standards around the world, the three firms said in a joint statement. Toyota will take a 90 per cent stake in the venture, to be launched next month in the central city of Nagoya, near the automaker’s headquarters. — AFP