CJPT in Japan, a technology development partnership company and JV involving Toyota Motor Corporation, Hino Motors Ltd (a Toyota subsidiary) and Isuzu Motors Ltd, has announced a programme to research a standard, commercial, swappable and rechargeable battery cartridge for use in electric vehicles.

The three Japanese firms will develop hydrogen fuel cell-powered light trucks for the mass market through their research joint venture Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies, established last year to “help address various challenges facing the transportation industry as well as contribute to the achievement of a carbon-neutral society.”

Toyota, Daihatsu and others are working together to study more efficient ways of sourcing biomass and producing bioethanol for use as a fuel.

LG Energy Solution Ltd (LGES) Seoul, South Korea, has announced it is to supply traction (EV) batteries to Isuzu Motors Ltd of Shinagawa, Japan in a multi-year deal worth an estimated KRW1trn (USD765m).

250 Fuso Canter trucks CKD-assembled in South Africa going to Baker’s Inn bakery in Zimbabwe

Senior VP of sales, Kouji Maruyama, now President of UD Trucks

Mitsubishi Fuso has relaunched sales in Tanzania with its newly-appointed distributor, Capstone Corporation. FUSO sales in Tanzania will first begin out of two retail locations, with one in Dar es Salaam and the other in Arusha, an inland city with a strong manufacturing economy. 

Air Liquide SAS, based in Paris, CaetanoBus S.A., located in Porto, and Toyota Motor Corp, headquartered in Toyota, have signed a memorandum of understanding with the intention of developing integrated hydrogen solutions, including infrastructure and heavy-duty vehicles.

Kyocera Corp, based in Kyoto, has announced a plan to build the largest manufacturing facility it has ever operated in Japan, expanding production capacity for semiconductors. The company stated that a primary motivator in the expansion is the growing demand for components for ADAS systems and sensors used in new vehicles.

UD Trucks has signed an agreement with data analytics, storage and security firm, PTC Japan to introduce a new data platform to help improve the efficiency of its production operations. 

Nashville, Tennessee-based subsidiary of Japan’s Bridgestone Corporation, Bridgestone Americas Inc, has made a minority investment in May Mobility, an autonomous vehicle technology firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Bridgestone Corporation, based in Tokyo, Japan, has launched a joint programme to develop chemical recycling technologies that utilise used tyres to achieve high-yield production of isoprene, a raw material used in synthetic rubber production.