Cliff Atiyeh recently broke down the good and ugly collaborations between carmakers, and the review was prescient: BMW and Toyota have announced that they will jointly develop a sports car, as well as cooperate on fuel-cell technologies. The agreement for a strategic collaboration was signed by BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer and Toyota President Akio Toyoda at BMW's headquarters in Munich, Germany.

This announcement is an expansion of sorts on the agreement between the two automakers, announced in March, that outlined BMW's supply of proprietary diesel engines to Toyota in exchange for the latter's expertise with lithium-ion battery research.

According to Automotive News, the manufacturers "said they signed an agreement that allows joint development of a fuel-cell system, joint development of architecture and components for a future sports vehicle, collaboration on powertrain electrification and joint research and development on lightweight technologies." BMW's previous ties with General Motors on fuel-cell development, as well as with PSA/Peugeot-Citroen on hybrid powertrains, are being severed, according to the German automaker.

However, Toyoda said, the partnership is not designed to combine the companies in any way. Speaking to reporters after the press conference, Toyoda said the two manufacturers "are not coming together to become bigger," and they likewise are "not coming together to form capital ties."

BMW's full press release on the partnership can be found here; Toyota's here.

[Source: Automotive News.]