Tokyo — Toyota Motor and Suzuki Motor have agreed to begin formal talks to forge a partnership in procurement, green vehicles, IT and safety technologies. The news of the talks came the same day that Toyota raised its full-year profit forecast by 9.7%, saying it expected a bigger reprieve from a weakening yen while cost-cutting efforts had also helped. Toyota and Suzuki said in October they were exploring a partnership, citing technological challenges facing the industry and the need to keep up with consolidation in the global auto industry. A partnership could give Suzuki, which makes affordable mini and compact cars, access to Toyota’s research and development (R&D) expertise. Japan’s fourth-largest car maker has said it has been struggling to keep pace with the breakneck speed of R&D in the industry. While the two companies have yet to say how Toyota may gain from a partnership with Suzuki, insiders at the world’ second-largest ca maker have said it will probably seek Suzuki’s he...
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