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Rivals Ford Motor and Toyota Motor announced an agreement Monday to work together to develop a new hybrid system for use in light trucks.

The agreement is expected to produce hybrid rear-wheel drive pickups and SUVs sometime later this decade. The agreement brings together Toyota (TM), which has been a leader in hybrid technology, with Ford (F, Fortune 500), which still has a leading position in the pickup and SUV portion of the market, where hybrids are still less common.

"Our collaboration with Ford is a move to make hybrid technology more widely available in sports utility vehicles and trucks," said Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota executive vice president of research and development.

The companies will separately integrate the new hybrid system in their future vehicles.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/22/news....htm?hpt=hp_t2