The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

Europe. Because of the timing, some view the merger as
having been triggered by Prius.
In fact, Daimler-Chrysler announced the reasons for
the merger as being mutual complementation of American
and European markets and drastic reduction of investment
cost for environmental technology such as the FCEV. As far
as FCEV development efforts are concerned, Ford has
joined Daimler-Chrysler, and Honda is also approaching
this group. Later, one may look back on the auto industry's
mega-reorganization on the eve of the 21 st century and
define the era as being "post-Prius."
Meanwhile, Toyota's Okuda said of the industry
reorganization: "About 10 companies will survive into the
early 21 st century. We would like to be a winner." Okuda
emphasized that Toyota would not consider financial tie-
ups with foreign companies but would compete globally
as the Toyota Group by fortifying its relationship with
Daihatsu, which makes mini-cars, and with Hino, which
makes heavy trucks.
With environmental technologies, however, Okuda
stated, "Regarding individual technologies, there is possibility
of technical partnerships." Toyota has already begun joint
research of car-navigation and recycling with Volkswagen
(VW). Since Toyota once jointly produced cars in Germany
and currently sells VW cars at Toyota's domestic
dealerships, the relationship between the two is close.
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Also, Toyota has operated a joint auto production