Toyota unveiled its first production fuel cell car last month at the Tokyo motor show (our illustration). Market launch is scheduled for early 2015, and we weren’t expecting any news before then, but the unexpected came from Hideki Watanabe who said he was interested in the technology. It matters because he’s the chief-engineer for the GS and LS lines at Lexus. There’s no detail and no date, but it could mean that there could be a fuel cell car in a future Lexus line-up. But there’s more as Hideki Watanabe also said that this technology should be developed in partnership with BMW!

It’s now possible in Europe to order a Toyota Verso with a BMW-sourced diesel engine, and fuel cells are another subject of collaboration between the two car manufacturers. It could grow…