Toyota to Lease Hybrid Engine Technology to Ford

Good! I hope they charge them an Arm, Leg, and ears for it.

It serves Ford right that they balked at the idea of hybrid technology and now have to play catch up. I can't wait to see GM do that same.

Maybe one day we will see a Mazda Rotery engine with a hybrid. Ah, that would be sweat!

 

I give Ford some credit in realizing that they could not come close to matching Toyota's technology. I think Ford is in seroius trouble - their bonds were given 'junk' status earlier this week by one rating firm- and must find a way to improve. If it takes an alliance with Toyota, then so be it. GM wil never admit that Toyota has them beat in the hybrid arena since it would further erode their position in the marketplace.

My wife and I are not wealthy people, putting 3 kids through private colleges and all, but we decided last fall to purchase 20 shares of Toyota stock, since we both believe in the philosophy and direction of this great company. In that short time, it has done quite well and we are proud to support a company that is trying to improve the world environment and reduce our use of fossil fuels. The fact that they are willing to share this technology with Ford, even though they should make a tidy profit on it, is an indication to us that they are looking a little bit more at the big, global picture of what this technology can do.

 

Could Toyota be trying to recoup some of their massive R&D costs? I've heard they're not making a dime on the Prius, maybe even selling them at a loss.

 

This isn't consistent with a report I hear on NPR this evening. They ran an interview with an industry expert (I don't remember her name, but she wrote a book titled "The decline of the Big 3" or something to that effect) who said Toyota was making a profit on the Prius, Honda was barely breaking even, and Ford will be selling their hybrid at a loss.

I think this agreement is yet another example of Toyota's committment to the technology. On the business side, this move removes a competitor from the marketplace and allows them to leapfrog the remaining competition because of the alternate means of recovering R&D expenses. This should mean more R&D on enhancements or future technology - something that Ford will not be doing any time soon (or any of the other Big 3 for that matter).

 

Actually Ford licenced the technology from Toyota a long time ago, this is nothing new. They have had a Hybrid Escape under developement for quite some time. They were originally going to release it a little over a year ago, but then Toyota upped their technology for the new Prius, so Ford decided to wait of it before doing the final integration in the Escape. It's expected to be out in the summer I believe.

 

Posted this on the wrong topic before - A dealer in Springfield, MO told me last spring that Toyota is licensing their 1st Gen hybrid technology to Ford - not the new & improved 2nd Gen hybrid technology...just hearsay but it makes more sense to me.

Beth

 

I think they're just looking at the bottom line: They've invested a bundle to develop HSD, and now they've got to make a profit on it. They know that Ford ("fix or repair daily") is not competing for the same customer base, so by leasing technology to Ford, Toyota is increasing the total market share for HSD. They'll make more from the agreement with Ford than they'll lose by the few customers who will switch from Toyota to Ford.

And I say more power to them. As long as the Japanese are willing to put cutting-edge technology into quality cars, and the U.S. makers drag their feet and cut corners on quality, I'll be driving a Japanese car.

 

Makes sense honda sold engines to saturn v6 in the vue but not their engine management software. toyota lower gen hybrid to ford ok. That shows what the insiders think of honda and toyota. What i own honda and toyota.

 

Actually I thought the Ford Fusion Hybrid uses a drivetrain by Toyota.

 

But they did not have a Ford Fusion Hybid in 2004 when this thread was written. It was not sold until the 2009 model year.

Ford maintains that they independently invented the hybrid technology they use, but found it had already been patented by Toyota. Licensing saved patent disputes, even if no information transferred. Certainly the Ford hybrids work well in 2011.

Sadly PriusChat never times out when you can add to a thread, so you must read the post dates.

 

What a dream, a world vehicle made with the best and most efficient parts from any manufacturer. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Ok kick me i dozed off again into the dream world ,but for a few minutes i was driving one hell of a car........

 

Two things come to mind for me

First off this shows how far behind American Auto companies are, that they are willing to buy technology, instead of spending the millions on R&D. Makes me think that they see this technology as a "STOP GAP" measure only.

Secondly, it shows what a great deal this is for Toyota. Every Hybrid Ford sells, money will be coming back to Toyota. In any Industry this is what most companies work for, to own the license rights to a technology and make more money, making people/companies pay to use it.

 

Ford says no money changed hands. Just a trade of technology rights.

 

Correct. Ford did their own development, but found Toyota already had conflicting Patents. So now Toyota is safe from some Ford Patents.

 

It was my understanding that Ford did not "Buy" the Toyota Hybrid system or any of their technology. What Ford did do is to pay a licensing fee for 20 patents of the over 300 that Toyota has filed on Hybrid technology. This is for areas where the Ford's technology may overlap Toyota's patents. There are no Toyota parts in the Escape Hybrid and it was developed with no input from Toyota.

So if the above is correct ("if"), wouldn't mean that money is flowing to Toyota?

Can someone share a link for me, because I keep finding conflicting info

Thanks

 

and just to make it a little more complicated, toyota is paying a license fee to the company they got some tech from for every hybrid they sell in the u.s.