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BMW, Toyota agree on joint sportscar platform, report says

Toyota President Akio Toyoda and BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer signed binding agreements for long-term collaboration.
December 30, 2013 05:00 AM

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- BMW and Toyota have agreed to develop a joint platform for sportscars, BMW's development chief Herbert Diess told a German newspaper.

"We have agreed on a joint architecture for a sports car. What is important is that there will be two different vehicles that are authentic to the two brands," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung today quoted Diess as saying.

BMW and Toyota in June 2012 signed an agreement to cooperate on various areas including lithium-air batteries and lightweight technology.

They also said at the time they would study the potential for a joint platform for a mid-sized sports vehicle in a feasibility study to be completed by the end of 2013.

Frankfurter Allgemeine said that Diess declined to provide details on the models that would result from the cooperation.

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