BYD and Toyota have joined forces to establish a joint company that will conduct research and development for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), including buses and commercial vehicles.
The new R&D company, which will work on designing and developing BEVs and their related parts, is expected to be established in China in 2020, with BYD and Toyota each controlling a 50% stake.
BYD Senior Vice President, Lian Yu-bo, said, “We aim to combine BYD’s strengths in development and competitiveness in the battery electric vehicle market with Toyota’s quality and safety technology to provide the best BEV products for the market demand and consumer affection as early as we can.”
Toyota Executive Vice President, Shigeki Terashi, added, “With the same goal to further promote the widespread use of electrified vehicles, we appreciate that BYD and Toyota can become ‘teammates’, able to put aside our rivalry and collaborate. We hope to further advance and expand both BYD and Toyota from the efforts of the new company with BYD.”
