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Toyota has jumped off the Tesla bandwagon.
The Japanese giant confirmed that it has sold its five per cent stake in the American electric car maker. The sale actually occurred late in 2016 but Toyota only revealed the deal over the weekend.
It ends the partnership between the two companies that began in 2010 when Toyota invested in the then fledgling Tesla, which at that stage had only produced its Lotus-based Tesla Roadster and was two years from launching the breakthrough Model S.
Toyota utilised Tesla's battery and electric motor technology to produce an electric version of its RAV4 SUV. It was launched in 2012 but was only available in limited US markets and was discontinued in 2014.
The partnership between the two also resulted in the sale of Toyota's former Fremont, California factory to Tesla, where the company now builds both the Model S and Model X.
The split appears to be driven by diverging paths of the two brands. Toyota has long championed the future of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles while Tesla founder Elon Musk has publicly called the technology "incredibly dumb".
![This undated photo provided by Tesla Motors shows the Model 3 car. The promise of an affordable electric car from Tesla Motors had hundreds of people lining up to reserve one. At a starting price of $35,000 ? before federal and state government incentives ? the Model 3 is less than half the cost of Tesla's previous models. (Tesla Motors via AP) Tesla Model 3](http://web.archive.org./web/20170607050133im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/5/b/2/2/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1460522771955.png)
Toyota is also set to launch its own electric car sub-brand that will potentially compete against Tesla.
But this isn't Tesla's first divorce from a major car making partner. Daimler sold its four per cent stake in Tesla in October 2014, citing the partnership as no longer necessary for the German giant. Since then Mercedes-Benz has announced plans for its own electric vehicle sub-brand, called EQ, which will compete against the American brand.
Meanwhile, Tesla claims its next new offering, the long-awaited Model 3 (pictured above), is on schedule to enter production in July.
6 Comments
Great news, the exciting new world of electric cars hardly fits with the Ultra conservative Toyota.
Toyota will do what they are best at, let others innovate and then refine and sell in volume. It's worked well for them so far. Electric vehicles are only a stopgap for California legislation, they aren't the future (although electric motors will certainly replace the internal combustion engine, the way power is generated for those motors won't be from heavy batteries with finite lifecycles, high replacement costs, high weights, and terrible recyclability.
Tesla founder Elon Musk has publicly called the technology (hydrogen fuel cell vehicles) incredibly dumb ... Agree.
Mr S Otterly forgot to mention that Toyota sold $50 million worth of stock it held in Tesla for $1.2 billion . No wonder Toyota are the smartest car company in the World.
Thank goodness for that I was dreading the remote possibility that the Tesla would develop sloping headlights
Elon Musk breathes a huge sigh of relief, wonders what on earth he was thinking in the first place. Tesla vehicles are polar opposites of the dead boring, ugly and frankly second rate Toyotas. Only thing that would make sense is for a hybrid 86 adding another 100kw of electric motor. Only decent car in their line-up