Toyota and Subaru still aren’t giving up on electric vehicles as word on the street indicates that the two companies will be working on another joint venture to launch an EV SUV by 2026. The rumor comes from Nikkei Asia, who learned about the new vehicle, which is being developed specifically for the North American and European markets.
This wouldn’t be the first time Toyota and Subaru paired up to make a new vehicle, with such examples as the GR86 and the BRZ being one. In greater relevance to electric vehicles, Toyota and Subaru also teamed up to cooperatively develop and produce the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra EV crossovers, both of which launched in May 2022.
The Joint-Venture Seeks To Offer Affordable EV Model And Reduce Production Costs
Not much is known specifically about the new model, other than it will take form as another fully electrified SUV. However, Nikkei Asia did learn that production for the new model will commence primarily at Subaru’s Yajima plant, upping the facilities overall output to around 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles per month.
As of today, the Yajima plant is responsible for the production of nearly Subaru’s entire gas-powered lineup such as the Impreza, the Legacy, and the Forester and Outback crossover SUVs. It would be the first EV to be made at the Yajima plant as the Solterra and the bZ4X are both manufactured at Toyota’s main production Motomachi facility in Aichi, and Toyota’s new Chinese plant in Guangzhou. The latter supports the Chinese-market models.
New EV SUV Will Share Components With bZ4X And Other Models
This new EV SUV in the works is expected to be based off the same platform underpinning the bZ4X and Solterra, which is Toyota’s e-TNGA modular platform, or Toyota’s Next Generation Architecture, specifically meant for its lineup of electric vehicles. For Subaru, the platform was licensed and renamed to e-SGP or “e-Subaru Global Platform.” For Subaru spefically, the new SUV is a part of Subaru’s revised electric vehicle strategy, which hopes to sell up to 600,000 EVs annually by 2030. That amount will make up about half of Subaru’s global sales by then.
As a refresher, the Toyota and Subaru paired up before to produce the bZ4X and Solterra EVs, which is the same general vehicle template that also underpins the Lexus RZ all-electric crossover SUV. Electric motors power either the front or all our wheels with total output ranging from 201 horsepower to 215 hp, depending on the configuration.
Despite generally favorable press, both the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra have both suffered from slow sales, with only 1,220 bZ4X’s sold in the US in 2022, while Subaru moved only 919 Solterras that same year. Sales increased dramatically the following year, according to public sales reports, with Toyota selling around 9,329 bZ4X’s and Subaru moving around 8,872 Solterras. However, both figures are well below both companies’ initial sales projection.
In addition to EVs, both Toyota and Subaru also teamed up with Mazda to develop internal combustion engine and gas-electric hybrid technology for the near future.
Source: Nikkei Asia
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