Toyota and BYD sign a joint venture agreement to establish a pure electric vehicle research and development company

Toyota Motor Corporation and BYD Co., Ltd. today signed a joint venture agreement to establish a pure electric vehicle research and development company. The new company will be officially established in China in 2020, with Toyota and BYD each contributing 50%.

The joint venture will be jointly established by personnel from both parties engaged in related businesses. Its main business scope includes the design and development of pure electric vehicles and their derivative vehicles and parts for pure electric vehicles and their derivative vehicles; the import and export and sales of parts, components and assemblies for pure electric vehicles and their derivative vehicles, and the provision of after-sales services and related consulting services.

In fact, BYD and Toyota Motors have reached a cooperation agreement on July 19 this year. According to the cooperation agreement at that time, the two parties reached a cooperation on the joint development of electric vehicles, and will jointly develop pure electric models of sedans and chassis SUVs. The models will use the Toyota brand and are planned to be launched in the Chinese market before 2025. At the same time, the two parties will also jointly develop the power batteries required for the research and development models.

After nearly four months, the joint venture agreement between BYD and Toyota Motor was officially finalized. The above BYD announcement shows that the personnel of the new joint venture will be composed of personnel engaged in related businesses of both parties. BYD said that this joint venture will fully integrate the technical strengths of BYD and Toyota, combining BYD's advantages in competitiveness and R&D capabilities in the pure electric vehicle market with Toyota's advantages in quality and safety.

Toyota has always attached great importance to China, the world's largest new energy vehicle sales market. After announcing that it would focus on developing hybrid and plug-in hybrid models in China, it also announced that it would officially introduce Toyota's independently developed pure electric models in China for the first time in 2020. In order to accelerate the electrification process, Toyota has brought forward its sales target of 5.5 million electric vehicles by 2030 to 2025.

BYD said that the products designed and developed by the joint venture will make full use of BYD's existing electric platform technology and electric component supply, and incorporate Toyota's quality and safety control standards. The pure electric vehicles designed and developed by the joint venture can use the Toyota brand.

The signing of the joint venture agreement is not the first cooperation between BYD and Toyota. In June 2019, Toyota announced in Japan that BYD would become its power battery supplier. BYD believes that the establishment of a joint venture with Toyota is another achievement of BYD's open strategy. Toyota Motor Vice President Shigeki Terashi said that he hopes to deepen and develop the cooperation between the two parties through the related business carried out by the new company established with BYD.

Toyota launched the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle in 1997, and has sold more than 14 million electrified vehicles worldwide, mainly hybrid vehicles.

BYD started its battery business in 1995, mastering the battery, IGBT, motor, and electronic control technologies for electric vehicles, and launched mass-produced plug-in hybrid models in 2008.