Shocker! Toyota and Ford to Collaborate

This week, it was announced that Toyota and Ford will share development costs to create a hybrid engine for trucks and SUV’s. Toyota has been dominating the hybrid market ever since they launched the Prius and Ford has dominated the truck market along with Chevy for decades. In the last few years, Toyota has had a few setbacks with their “brake” issues and the earthquake in Japan that slowed production. Furthermore, Ford has seen their star rising during this time by avoiding a government bailout (unlike General Motors) and creating innovative A/V equipment like Sync.

Both companies will continue to face pressures from General Motors, who is charging hard into plug-in vehicles like the Volt. It will be interesting to see who wins the race for the first hybrid truck.

SoCal Says: It’s about time some truck makers teamed up to do something innovative. Too bad it took the government forcing their hand. All lifted truck owners would love better gas mileage without having to sacrifice the look or functionality of their truck. Let’s wait and see what happens, but we are encouraged by the news.