Posted on: Saturday, October 6, 2001
GM, Toyota seek tech partnership
By Yuri Kageyama
Associated Press
TOKYO — General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. will study ways they can work together in offering computerized services for the Japanese market that will eventually allow drivers to surf the Internet and download music in cars.
Over the next eight months, the two companies will look for joint opportunities in the field such as sharing technology, hardware and telecom carrier services, the automakers said Friday. Toyota may also supply GM its digital maps and other content for a fee, they said.
Such businesses, known as telematics, are a growing sector in the auto industry and seek to make cybersurfing and reading e-mail as easy in a car as at home or in the office.
GM and Toyota officials said the agreement was an extension of ties that began in the early 1980s with the New United Motor Manufacturing, a joint venture between the two automakers based in Fremont, Calif., that still produces cars and pickups.
GM and Toyota also have an agreement to work together researching ecological technology for cars.
Toyota director Akio Toyoda said the services being studied will enable drivers to find news headlines, stock prices and traffic information while keeping their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.
Toyota took the lead among the Japanese automakers in linking with Net businesses and runs a fairly successful computer Web site called Gazoo that sells books and other products in addition to cars. Toyota also offers a less successful, service for logging on to special Web sites from cars.
Last month, Toyota said a new Internet car service that includes e-mail, traffic information, video-game services, music downloads and electronic commerce called G-Book will begin by the middle of next year.
GM has developed the OnStar system that uses hands-free software for emergency services and roadside assistance. OnStar is used in the United States in more than a million vehicles, including some Toyota Lexus luxury cars.
