Toyota Denies Rumor It Wants to Acquire Ford

Japanese auto maker Toyota Motor Co. issued a statement Thursday denying rumors that it wants to buy Ford Motor Co.

Toyota called the rumors “groundless” and “impossible,” saying it has never had any such plans.

“There are always many rumors in the financial markets, and maybe some investors were trying to move markets,” Toyota said in a statement issued from Tokyo.

A spokesman for Ford in Dearborn, Mich., also dismissed the reports.

“We have just heard that one,” company spokesman Bert Serre said. “But there is absolutely no truth to it at all.”

In London, the rumors helped push up prices on the London stock market and the British pound rose to $1.6915 from $1.6775.