Toyota and BMW have both spelled out their commitment to driverless and electric cars - and the rising costs of developing these technologies.

The giant Japanese conglomerate is planning to sped a record 1 trillion yen (£6.7bn) on research and development this year and is slashing costs elsewhere to fund it. Posting half-year numbers, Toyota revealed 100bn yen of savings.

“We not only need to develop these leading technologies but also need to commercialise them,” said Osamu Nagata, the company’s finance director in Tokyo. “To do that, we need to increase R&D expenses. This will be a cost burden so we need to speed up cost reduction.”