Suzuki, Subaru, Hino & Daihatsu join Japanese alliance

Four additional manufacturers are about to get involved in the EV Common Architecture Spirit, a Japanese JV recently created by Toyota, Mazda and Denso to jointly develop electric vehicle technologies.

According to Nikkei, the new partners are Suzuki, Subaru, Hino and Daihatsu. Before the month’s end, each of these companies seeks to send 5 engineers to join the JV, augmenting the venture’s engineer staff to roughly 60. Moreover, the quartet agrees on sharing expanses for research.

The new members are covering different automotive areas: Suzuki and Daihatsu are specialised on compact cars, Subaru on mid-size cars and Hino on trucks.

In September, Toyota and Mazda teamed up with Toyota’s supplier Denso to found the JV. Although four additional companies are to play now an active role in the project, this does not touch the venture’s current ownership structure: Toyota holds further 90 percent stakes, Mazda and Denso 5 percent each.
asia.nikkei.com