Toyota Motor Corp. will reconstruct a capital alliance with Isuzu Motors Ltd., with the two firms investing more than ¥40 billion in each other, in a bid to jointly develop advanced vehicles such as small autonomous trucks. The revived alliance, announced Wednesday, signals the urgent need for carmakers to find partners in developing new, costly technologies, particularly for automotive electrification. The alliance, also involving truck-maker and Toyota subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd., aims to clear emissions regulations and meet demand from customers who are increasingly aware of global warming, the companies said. Toyota and Isuzu dissolved their previous capital partnership in 2018. They had aimed to jointly develop technologies for diesel engines.

Automakers around the world will likely be forced to continue production cutbacks in the coming months before a global semiconductor supply shortage can be resolved, industry experts say. Japan's Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have said they partially halted production at factories around the world due to the chip shortage just as they began recovering from pandemic-forced plant shutdowns. Demand for chips, widely used in electronic devices including those in vehicles, has been surging across various sectors since last fall as the global economy picked up. "A gap in demand and supply for semiconductors suddenly occurred late last year due to a coincidence of some events including a sharp recovery in global auto sales, robust sales of smartphones and installment of the 5G networks," said Yoshiharu Izumi, senior analyst at SBI Securities Co. As video game sales jumped with people spending more time at home, robust production of game consoles ahead of the rollouts in November of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.'s PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X console from Microsoft Corp. also contributed to the chip supply crunch, experts say.

After two years of faltering sales and fallout from the 2018 arrest of then-Chairman Carlos Ghosn, Nissan Motor Co.'s newly installed management is at another crossroads: how to get Japan's second-largest automaker out of a rut and beyond the shadow of the disgraced executive who drove its strategy for decades. It's a tall order, particularly considering Nissan's hefty pile of debt, around ¥8.3 trillion ($80 billion) -- double what it had 10 years ago -- lackluster showing in Europe, and U.K. factory supply chain woes. Nissan is also facing unparalleled competition, especially in the realm of advanced autonomous driving. The automaker spends only about half of the ¥1 trillion that Toyota Motor Corp. outlays annually on research and development and carmakers in general lag behind capital-rich tech firms like Alphabet Inc., which has spent more than $1 billion on self-driving technology via subsidiary Waymo LLC. Nissan Senior Vice President Takao Asami is cognizant of the challenges, admitting that "if we lose out in terms of technology, we're going to lose out in terms of business." "Lately there's been a lot of discussion internally about what our DNA is, what areas we can dig deep into and win," Asami said in an interview.

The 46th Tokyo Motor Show slated to kick off Thursday will not just focus on futuristic, cutting-edge vehicles, such as self-driving cars, it will also shine a light on unconventional mobility devices and exhibitions for children aimed at reversing flagging attendance. The show once enjoyed a reputation as one of the world's five biggest auto expos along with the Frankfurt, Geneva, Detroit and Paris shows. But it has recently lost its position as Asia's top venue to the Chinese expos in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. The 46th biennial exhibition, to be held at Tokyo Big Sight convention center and its vicinity through Nov. 4, will be attended by 192 carmakers and organizations from eight countries, down from a peak of 361 in 1995, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, the nation's largest auto lobby and the show's organizer. Along with U.S. giants General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV -- which are again skipping Tokyo's show this year, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Citroen, Volvo and Peugeot will also be absent this year despite participating in 2017.

Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, left, speaks with Suzuki Motor Corp. Chairman Osamu Suzuki during a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 12, 2016. The two automakers announced Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019, they are partnering in the development of self-driving car technology. TOKYO – Japan's top automaker, Toyota, and smaller rival Suzuki are partnering in the development of self-driving car technology, as manufacturers around the world grapple with innovations in the industry. Under the deal, announced Wednesday, Toyota will take a 4.9% stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. valued at 96 billion yen ($908 million), and Suzuki will make a 48 billion yen ($454 million) investment in Toyota. In 2017, Toyota Motor Corp. and Suzuki agreed to work together in ecological and safety technology.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. are strengthening their alliance by taking stakes in one another, seeking to bolster their position as the auto industry shifts further toward electrified and self-driving cars. Japan's biggest automaker will acquire about 5 percent of Suzuki shares for about ¥96 billion ($907 million), while Suzuki will get a smaller holding valued at about ¥48 billion in Toyota, the automakers said in statements Wednesday. That is equivalent to 0.2 percent of Toyota's shares as of Wednesday's closing price, before the announcement. The move builds on ties established in 2017 between the two carmakers and is aimed at expanding their collaboration to keep up with technological advances sweeping through the transportation industry, from on-demand rides to cars that are no longer powered by fossil fuels. For Toyota, the alliance provides access to Suzuki's expertise in India, which is on track to overtake Japan and become the third-largest vehicle market in the world.

Five Japanese automakers will join a self-driving technology joint venture formed last year by Toyota Motor Corp. and SoftBank Corp., sources close to the matter said Wednesday. Mazda Motor Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp., Subaru Corp., Isuzu Motor Ltd., and Toyota's minivehicle-making unit Daihatsu Motor Corp. will each buy a stake of less than 10 percent in Monet Technologies Inc., they said. Currently, SoftBank owns 40.2 percent of the joint company, with Toyota holding a 39.8 percent stake. Honda Motor Corp. and Toyota's truck-making subsidiary Hino Motor Ltd. already have a 10 percent stake each in the venture. Monet is developing next-generation mobility services using autonomous driving technology.

TOKYO/PARIS - What kind of financial blow has the widening scandal surrounding Carlos Ghosn delivered to Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA? Investors are about to get a glimpse when closely watched earnings releases come out this week. The alliance partners have spent the last two months coping with a major reputational hit from Ghosn's arrest, indictments by Tokyo prosecutors over alleged financial improprieties and an unflattering spotlight on both companies' corporate governance controls. Taken together, these negatives could leave the alliance partners falling behind competitors such as Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. in the race to adapt to the changing terrain. The risks may be greater for Nissan since the lion's share of allegations against Ghosn reflect his tenure there, and its business challenges are tougher than Renault's.

Last month, Nissan Motor Corp said its board remained committed to the carmaker's alliance with Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp, after directors met to discuss the ongoing investigation into former chairman Carlos Ghosn and ways to bolster governance.

Carlos Ghosn's ouster as chairman of Nissan Motor Co. signals that the automaker is seeking to reshape itself to better deal with a rapidly changing market environment, breaking from nearly two decades under his charismatic leadership style, according to some analysts. Chasing volume and sharing costs were a large part of Ghosn's business strategy for one of the world's most successful auto partnerships -- the alliance between Nissan, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. -- led by the Brazil-born executive. Nissan officials say they intend to maintain the alliance due to its benefits, even as the company's board on Thursday approved the dismissal of Ghosn as chairman following his arrest for alleged financial misconduct. Ghosn, sent in by Renault in 1999, closed plants, cut thousands of jobs and streamlined its supply chain to pull the automaker back from the brink of bankruptcy. He set lofty numerical targets to propel growth at Nissan, and as a result, the Japanese-French alliance he forged in pursuit of greater economies of scale grew into one of the world's biggest auto groups.