BMW and Toyota’s engine agreement will not extend to Lexus, says Toyota Europe spokesman Etienne Plas. Speaking to Automotive News Europe, Mr Plas said
Lexus, Toyota’s premium brand which
competes directly with BMW, will be benefit from BMW engines. We expect this to
be true, otherwise it would be quite an oddity
to have your competitor powered by
your engines like in Formula One.
Still, Toyota brand will continue with the agreement which kicks in sometime in 2012. The deal is
only that BMW supplies 1.6-litre and
2.0-litre turbo diesel engines for
Toyota in its European models. These include Auris X and Avensis, the
former which Mzansi also gets.
This is a good deal for Toyota as it positions itself to be sportier
and more desirable in terms of design, on its way to defending itself against
Volkswagen’s imminent world dominance.
Whether BMW can reciprocate by tapping
into Toyota’s hybrid technology
however, is not confirmed yet. The Germans already share engines with the PSA
Group (Peugeot and Citroen), and they also have an
agreement with SAAB, one that may end
up not bearing any fruit.
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