Toyota & Tesla Motors Announce Strategic Alliance

Toyota Motor Corporation and Tesla Motors, an automaker specialising in electric vehicles including the full-electric Tesla Roadster, have formed a strategic alliance to cooperate on the development and production of electric vehicles. The deal involves Toyota investing USD 50 million in Tesla, while Tesla will purchase parts of a California-based manufacturing plant formerly owned by Toyota and General Motors.

“I sensed the great potential of Tesla's technology and was impressed by its dedication to monozukuri (Toyota's approach to manufacturing)”, said Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota. “Through this partnership, by working together with a venture business such as Tesla, Toyota would like to learn from the challenging spirit, quick decision-making, and flexibility that Tesla has”.

“It is an honour and a powerful endorsement of our technology that Toyota would choose to invest in and partner with Tesla”, said Elon Musk, CEO and cofounder of Tesla Motors. “We look forward to learning and benefiting from Toyota's legendary engineering, manufacturing and production expertise”.

Earmarked as the site for the production of the 2012 Tesla Model S, the plant's ideal location near Silicon Valley ensures that Tesla has access to the best engineering talent. First unveiled in March 2009, the Model S was designed from scratch and will be the first all-electric four-door sedan, with seating capacity for seven, when it goes on sale in 2012.