OEMs deny suppliers the limelight

They were like ships passing in the night-the OEM and its tech partner, one day apart.

First came Toyota, with a Class-8 tractor-trailer powered by its latest 675-hp hydrogen fuel cell. The big rig, its sides emblazoned with a “Creating a Zero-Emissions World” banner, glided quietly to a halt outside the CAR Management Briefing Seminar in northern Michigan last July. Only its 18 tires and air brakes announced its presence.