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Toyota and Ferrari in Espionage Investigation

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by kenyon, Nov 25, 2003.

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  1. kenyon

    kenyon F1 Rookie

    Oct 7, 2002
    2,837
    East Yorkshire
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    Justin Kenyon
    #1 kenyon, Nov 25, 2003
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Police have raided the Toyota Formula One racing team's factory in Germany on suspicion of industrial espionage involving Ferrari, with one Toyota engineer reportedly arrested. Police in the western city of Cologne said that they searched the aerodynamic division in the team's factory on Friday, sealing the area, and took one person into custody.

    The newspaper Koelner Express said the district attorney's office in Modena, Italy, had been investigating the case at Ferrari's request. Cologne police said that the raid had been carried out on behalf of the Federal Criminal Office, the German equivalent of the FBI.

    Rumours of industrial espionage surfaced in media reports in May because of the apparent similarity of Toyota's TF103 car to the F2002 driven by the Ferrari world champion, Michael Schumacher.

    The Koelner Express reported that Toyota is suspected of having obtained technical data from Ferrari from an engineer who departed the Italian team two years ago.

    "Toyota motor sport is not the target of the investigation. It involves an employee of the aerodynamic division," Toyota's racing team boss, Ove Andersson, told the newspaper.
    Cologne police would not say if the arrested man was still in custody or if any charges had been brought. Police secured computers, technical plans and CDs and diskettes at the Toyota factory for evidence.

    The Koelner Express said that Toyota could face damage claims of millions of euros if the espionage charges are proved.

    Toyota has poured huge sums into its Formula One team and hired some top talent, including Ferrari employees, but the results on the racing circuit have been disappointing so far.
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  2. vanimal

    vanimal Formula Junior

    Mar 19, 2003
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    Vaughan
    #2 vanimal, Nov 25, 2003
    Ongoing saga, but if you look at the old Toyota MR2 and the 348 the resemblance is uncanny.. If its true I hope they screw Toyota for millions.
     
  3. Modificata

    Modificata F1 Rookie

    Apr 27, 2003
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    Andy Rasool
    #3 Modificata, Nov 25, 2003
    Celica looks like the 360 too.
     
  4. JH

    JH F1 Veteran

    Nov 14, 2002
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    Jonas H.
    #4 JH, Nov 25, 2003
    The Supra is older than the 550, so if anyone spied, it's Ferrari :)
     
  5. AnotherDunneDeal

    AnotherDunneDeal F1 Veteran

    Jun 2, 2003
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    James Dunne
    #5 AnotherDunneDeal, Nov 25, 2003
    Hey guys, this was concerning Formula One Aerodynamics, not new car design. One of the aerodynamacists from Ferrari is now at Toyota F1 and the 2003 Toyota F1 car was a near dead ringer for the 2002 Ferrari F1 car. Take a look and see for yourself.
     
  6. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    May 14, 2003
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    Hubert
    #6 Hubert888, Nov 25, 2003
    I believe there was a story in Forza magazine last year that stated how other car companies (ie. Toyota) copy Ferrari's sleek car designs. They showed pictures of the alleged copycat cars to the Ferrari cars side by side and also when each car was originally designed to tell people which car came out first.

    It was an interesting article. Check it out if you can. I do not remember which issue it was. Maybe somebody can dig it up and let people know.
     

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