REBEL ALLIANCE. Toyota Motor, its commercial truck unit Hino Motors and Isuzu Motors have announced a new joint venture to develop connected trucks and fuel cells. That might serve Tokyo’s push to reduce the national carbon footprint, and Toyota’s hope to be a leader in clean-vehicle development. Alas, Isuzu and Toyota are also buying 42.8 billion yen ($394 million) stakes in each other, returning to a cross-shareholding structure they had abandoned in 2018. The arrangement is particularly awkward given Hino, in which Toyota owns 50%, competes with Isuzu. That complicates Toyota’s lengthening list of friendly yet pointless holdings in rivals, including significant stakes in Subaru and Mazda Motor, plus a series of clean-energy-related strategic partnerships, technology-sharing agreements, and so on. Shares in Toyota, already down sharply since a March 13 peak, shed another 2% on the announcement; Isuzu, in which Toyota will now own a 4.6% stake, popped over 5%. Japan’s government is trying to improve governance and returns for shareholders. On this front Toyota’s new venture looks unclean. (By Pete Sweeney)