Toyota Prius is quite a popular Hybrid car globally from Toyota and its one of the most popular Hybrids in the USA. Ford on the other hand is also into the Hybrid technologies. Both these automobile giants have their strong presence globally. They also share their patent licenses on various automobile technologies already. On August 23, 2011, Ford and Toyota in a joint official statement announced a partnership for developing the hybrid powertrain for small trucks and SUVs. Ford and Toyota will jointly develop these powertrains and will independently integrate them with their SUVs and mini-trucks. So while the powertrain development will be a joint effort, they will continue to develop their own hybrid vehicles separately.
Joint development of technology will help save development cost of technology for both the companies and will help keep them the pricing of the final product competitive. The technology to be developed will be rear wheel hybrid drive unlike the present front wheel drives used in most small Hybrid cars these days. The car makers will also collaborate with Microsoft for the joint development of the in car Sync technologies which is already there in Ford cars but needs improvements. With advancement of technologies, the multimedia, telecom and information systems of the car are become more and more important as more customers are using them for their convenience.
We hope that the joint development will be fruitful for the car makers, car buyers and the environment. The two companies have announced that they will ready the technologies before the end of the decade, so there is no need to expect a very immediate launch in this segment, but with ever rising oil prices, the Hybrid will gradually become more mainstream mode of transport in coming decades.
source- NYT
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