The practice is already occurring, said Andersson, who gave his company’s new HHR wagon as an example. The six-speed gearbox in the HHR is shared with Ford and was originally developed for Toyota, reports Automotive News.
By sharing the costs of developing new parts, carmakers would be able to lower their costs as investment spending is spread across several different manufacturers. Also at the conference were purchasing chiefs of Toyota and Chrysler, who commented that they’d be interested in sharing parts with rivals.