1987 Chevrolet Corvette Base Hatchback 5.7l on 2040-cars

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Toyota and Suzuki are looking at an R&D partnership because they admit they're behind

The Chairman of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Osamu Suzuki, and the President of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, have convened at Toyota's Tokyo offices to declare plans to join hands regarding research and development. According to Toyoda, Toyota "hasn't been good at creating alliances," and its partnership with the small carmaker Daihatsu has been the most well-known collaboration so far. Perhaps the comment has a tinge of regret from Toyota and GM's NUMMI days in Fremont, especially as the statement released by Toyota says that "Toyota is conscious of the fact that it may be behind competitors in North America and Europe when it comes to the establishment of standardizations and partnership with other companies." But as different technologies advance at breakneck speed and it is difficult for companies both big and small to stay competitive, let alone ahead of the game, Toyota is accepting the need for collaboration. Toyoda referred to passenger safety, environmental issues, automated driving, and hydrogen technology, all of which are key challenges for any carmaker looking to stay relevant, and all expensive to experiment with. Spreading the cost over more vehicles should help. "We received an offer from Suzuki regarding collaboration possibilities on advanced and future technologies such as in information technology. Suzuki made a frank proposal to us, and in understanding that Toyota is facing the challenges which I had mentioned earlier, we thought that with the relationship between both companies, there is an opportunity for a business partnership to help solve such challenges. As such, we decided to explore such possibilities together," said Toyoda. In the future, Daihatsu will still be Toyota's tool in emerging markets, but now Toyota could have access to Suzuki's small-car know-how. Osamu Suzuki acknowledges that "Suzuki's current business focuses on minivehicles in Japan and India," as Suzuki withdrew from the US and Canada in 2013. A joint effort will help Suzuki remain relevant, and as a manufacturer of predominantly small vehicles it has been focusing on competitive pricing more than cutting edge technology. Related Video:

Remembering Suzuki of America... in commercials

American Suzuki Motors is leaving us, but as long as the lights are on at YouTube, its commercials will stay behind to remind of the times we shared. We dug up nine commercials - sort of like a Time Life infomercial for an entire brand - and among the starring actors are the X-90 improving the 90s with the help of a Pez dispenser, the Peter Pan-ish Sidekick, Optimus Prime getting his pipes all smoked up over the 1987 Samurai and an XL7 that would have sold in the millions if its commercial were even half true.
We've also included a remarkably oddball eight-minute featurette/commercial about a giant Suzuki Swift. You'll find the retrospective in the videos below. Enjoy.

Japan could consolidate to three automakers by 2020

Sergio Marchionne might see his dream of big mergers in the auto industry become a reality, and an analyst thinks Japan is a likely place for consolidation to happen. Takaki Nakanishi from Jefferies Group LLC tells Bloomberg the country's car market could combine to just three or fewer major players by 2020, from seven today. "To have one or two carmakers in a country is not only natural, but also helpful to their competitiveness," Nakanishi told Bloomberg. "Japan has just too many and the resources have been too spread out. It's a natural trend to consolidate and reduce some of the wasted resources." Nakanishi's argument echoes Marchionne's reasons to push for a merger between FCA and General Motors. Automakers spend billions on research and development, but their competitors also invest money to create the same solutions. Consolidating could conceivably put that R&D money into new avenues. "In today's global marketplace, it is increasingly difficult for automakers to compete in lower volume segments like sports cars, hydrogen fuel cells, or electrified vehicles on their own," Ed Kim, vice president of Industry Analysis at AutoPacific, told Autoblog. Even without mergers, these are the areas where Japanese automakers already have partners for development. Kim cited examples like Toyota and Subaru's work on the BRZ and FR-S and its collaboration with BMW on a forthcoming sports car. Honda and GM have also reportedly deepened their cooperation on green car tech. After Toyota's recent buyout of previous partner Daihatsu, Nakanishi agrees with rumors that the automotive giant could next pursue Suzuki. He sees them like a courting couple. "For Suzuki, it's like they're just starting to exchange diaries and have yet to hold hands. When Toyota's starts to hold 5 percent of Suzuki's shares, this will be like finally touching fingertips," Nakanishi told Bloomberg. "I absolutely do believe that we are not finished seeing consolidation in Japan," Kim told Autoblog. Rising development costs to meet tougher emissions regulations make it hard for minor players in the market to remain competitive. "The smaller automakers like Suzuki, Mazda, and Mitsubishi are challenged to make it on their own in the global marketplace. Consolidation for them may be inevitable." Related Video: