The sprawling¹ Toyota family is expanding yet again.

枝叶繁茂的丰田(Toyota)家族将再次迎来扩张。

Toyota, Japan’s biggest carmaker, said it will explore a business tie-up with smaller rival Suzuki to develop next-generation technologies.

日本最大汽车制造商丰田表示，将探索与规模较小的竞争对手铃木(Suzuki)结成商业联盟，共同开发下一代技术。

Japan’s car industry has seen a wave of alliances in recent years as companies grapple with rising costs of developing fuel-efficient vehicles and new technologies such as autonomous³ driving, writes Kana Inagaki.

随着各家车企努力应对开发省油车辆和自动驾驶等新技术带来的成本攀升问题，日本汽车业近年来出现了一波结盟潮。

Toyota already has capital ties with Daihatsu, Hino and Subaru maker² Fuji Heavy. Its latest agreement with Suzuki will likely be similar to the partnership⁴ Toyota struck with Mazda last year that does not involve capital ties.

丰田之前已与大发(Daihatsu)、日野(Hino)以及斯巴鲁(Subaru)的生产商富士重工(Fuji Heavy)建立了资本联系。其与铃木的这一最新协议，很可能将类似于去年其与马自达(Mazda)达成的合作，而不涉及资本联系。

The two companies are scheduled to hold a press conference later this evening in Tokyo.

丰田和铃木计划今晚晚些时候在东京举行新闻发布会。

Suzuki, Japan’s fourth largest carmaker with a focus on small cars, formed a partnership with Volkswagen in 2009, but that was followed by an acrimonious⁵ split only two years later. Its sales are strong in India, where its Maruti Suzuki affiliate⁶ controls about half of the market, but analysts⁷ have said the company will need to find a partner to adapt to the industry shift towards the electrification⁸ of cars.

铃木是日本第四大汽车制造商，专注于生产小型汽车，2009年曾与大众汽车(Volkswagen)结成合作伙伴，但仅两年后双方就不欢而散。铃木在印度销售强劲，其子公司马鲁蒂铃木(Maruti Suzuki)控制了当地约一半的市场，但分析师表示，铃木需要找到一个合作伙伴，以适应该行业向汽车电气化的转变。