OREANDA-NEWS. Toyota Motor Corporation and Yanmar Co., Ltd. have reached a wide-ranging agreement to collaborate on technical development, production, and mutual parts use in the nautical industry. A concept craft previewing the first product developed under this collaboration will go on display at the Japan International Boat Show later this week.

Toyota currently manufactures and sells aluminum-hulled pleasure crafts equipped with automotive engines, and is firmly establishing itself in the marine business with a lineup of products that offer excellent seaworthiness and quiet operation.

Yanmar is an industrial device manufacturer that has specialized in industrial diesel engines. The company also manufactures marine engines, as well as fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) fishing boats and industrial vessels.

Although aluminum hulls offer high rigidity, they require advanced machining technology to manufacture, and can only be produced in limited quantities. To resolve these challenges, Toyota has been working for the past two years on the development of next generation hulls that allow for production in larger quantities by using a combination of FRP, carbon, and aluminum to either equal or surpass the rigidity of aluminum hulls.

Since last year, Toyota and Yanmar have been working on the joint development of production technologies for next generation hulls, with a focus on using Yanmar's advanced FRP molding technology. As a result, Toyota is on the verge of realizing large-scale production of marine craft that use the Toyota Hybrid Hull, a lightweight structure that enables production of complex, curved shapes while offering rigidity equal to aluminum hulls.

Toyota has already developed a new craft, Toyota-28 Concept, that makes use of the Toyota Hybrid Hull structure for the first time. In testing, the new craft has demonstrated seaworthiness and handling capabilities surpassing existing models. Toyota and Yanmar will work toward joint commercialization of a model based on this concept ahead of an expected launch in October, with manufacturing (including the Toyota Hybrid Hull) outsourced to Yanmar.