Toyota announced a preliminary partnership with Waymo on Wednesday that could result in the Japanese automaker collaborating with the Alphabet unit on autonomous vehicle technology. Why it matters: As the world's second largest automaker by sales and an industry leader in manufacturing efficiency,

The companies didn't announce any timelines, but Toyota could be setting the stage for future vehicle announcements, be it EVs or gas-powered cars.

While all that sounds very tentative, it boils down to this: Waymo has the self-driving tech, and Toyota has the cars. Sometime down the line, the two companies might start selling Toyota-built cars with Waymo's autonomous driving technology to end users.