Statement by Dr. Klaus Draeger, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development, Joint Press Conference of BMW Group and Toyota in Tokyo

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today is a very special day for the BMW Group – but also for Toyota, I am sure. A warm welcome to all of you.

BMW has had a presence in Japan for several decades now. We have been operating our own sales subsidiary here in Tokyo since 1981. As well, Japan is the only country where the BMW Group does not have a manufacturing plant, but does have an R&D facility. We have also worked successfully with Japanese suppliers for many years. As the Board Member for Development I can honestly say that some of our most innovative and flexible development partners come from Japan.

But we have not worked in partnership with a Japanese car company before now. That is why today’s announcement is so special. In the future, the BMW Group and the Toyota Motor Corporation will work together – in what is designed to be a long-term technological partnership. By carrying out basic research together, we want to speed up the development of battery cell technologies. And there is more: the BMW Group is going to supply clean diesel engines to Toyota Motor Europe. My colleague, Ian Robertson, will fill you in on the details in just a moment.

The two companies also aim to bring together their respective environmental technologies as a part of the collaboration. This means that the two companies have agreed to ongoing discussions as a way to identify other possible collaborative projects.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Battery technology is crucial for the future of hybrid technology – but also for the future of individual mobility. Whoever has the best batteries in terms of function, cost, and quality in their vehicles will win more customers. We want to set benchmarks in the future with both: hybrid and electric cars. Yesterday we celebrated the world premiere of the BMW ActiveHybrid 5. It is a very powerful and efficient full-hybrid vehicle. We also revealed the BMW i3 Concept and the BMW i8 Concept for the first time in Asia. These concept cars represent our fully-electric car for urban mobility and our sporty plug-in hybrid car that we will offer customers in the next years.

It clearly makes sense for experienced and innovative companies to pool their expertise and power with such future-orientated technologies. Toyota and the BMW Group are perfect partners: Toyota is the most sustainable and experienced producer in the high-volume segment. And Japan, of course, is the country that has made hybrid cars well known around the globe. The BMW Group is the most innovative and sustainable producer in the premium segment. It offers its customers especially powerful, extremely fuel-efficient engines – thanks to Efficient Dynamics.

The Toyota Motor Corporation and the BMW Group are two powerful, innovative companies. And we are absolutely certain that, together, we will take the future of mobility another decisive step forward.

Thank you very much!