- toyota and subaru are co-developing a new electric-car platform for mid-size and large sedans and suvs.
- this partnership will also result in a new electric crossover being jointly developed by the two companies.
- the new suvs will be sold under both brands and will be in the compact segment.
in an expansion of their partnership to share hybrid technology, which generated subaru's first plug-in hybrid, toyota and subaru have announced that they are jointly developing a new electric-car platform for use by both brands. the new platform will be for "mid-size and large passenger vehicles," they said, and it can underpin both sedans and suvs. no other technical details were given, but the automakers released the image above, showing a rendering of the platform.
in addition to the new platform, the companies will be jointly developing an electric suv based on the architecture that will be sold under both brands. again, not a lot of details were given, but the new crossovers will be in the c segment where the subaru forester and the toyota rav4 exist. rumors in the japan times and elsewhere recently suggested that the new electric suvs will hit the market in 2021.
neither brand currently offers any electric cars in the united states, although both have announced extensive electrification plans in the past few years. (toyota has admitted that it's taking a careful approach when it comes to electric cars.) the joint statement says that toyota's electrification tech and subaru's all-wheel-drive expertise will be put to use on the new projects.
toyota and subaru first entered into a business partnership in 2005 after general motors got rid of its stake in subaru parent fuji heavy industries; toyota is now the largest shareholder of subaru. in addition to the crosstrek plug-in, the collaboration most notably resulted in the creation of the toyota 86 and subaru brz sports-car twins, which are on track to receive a second generation at some point in the future.