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GM to share computer systems with Japanese carmakers

TOKYO: American automotive giant General Motors Corp will share computer car design and development systems with the three Japanese automakers in which GM has capital partnerships, a Japanese daily reported on Sunday.

GM has agreed in principal to share computer systems related to product development with Isuzu Motors Ltd, Suzuki Motor Corp and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported citing company sources.

The project is aimed at cutting costs through parts sharing and may lead to the companies jointly developing a world car, the paper said.

Officials from the three Japanese carmakers were not immediately available for comment due to the weekend holiday.

Earlier this month, the paper reported that GM, Japan's Toyota Motor Corp and Germany's Volkswagen AG had agreed to standardise their computer systems for designing and developing auto parts.

The global computer system move allows the companies to share information related to the development, engineering and design of new models because most of the work is done on a computer screen. This will lead to cost savings, it said.

In an interview with Reuters, Mark Hogan, president of the automaker's e-commerce division said GM was seeking another digital partnership through broad cooperation talks with electronics giant Sony Corp.

The two companies announced last month that future GM car with Internet access would be using Sony data storage technology, and Hogan said GM believed this agreement would be the first of many agreements.

"I'd say the envisioned partnership is quite broad," he told Reuters, adding it would not be limited to Internet access inside cars.-Reuters