Toyota and Subaru partner to make a couple of all-electric SUVs together

Toyota and Subaru, which is partly owned by the latter, have announced that they are partnering to develop a new electric platform in order to launch a couple of all-electric SUVs under each brand.

The two Japanese automakers have been increasingly collaborating over the past decade, including on some hybrid vehicle projects.

Both companies are also viewed as laggers in the all-electric space since neither have a fully-electronic option available to date.

Now they are announcing a partnership to help close that electric gap:

“To respond with a sense of speed to the diversifying needs of these markets and to multiple challenges, both Subaru and Toyota believe that it is necessary to pursue a business model that goes beyond convention, crossing over industrial boundaries together with various types of other entities that share their aspirations. As a first step in this direction, while accelerating productization by bringing together technologies that represent each company’s strengths and cooperating where possible, the two companies will jointly develop a BEV-dedicated platform. The platform will be developed in a way that will make it broadly applicable to multiple vehicle types, including C-segment-class and D-segment-class sedans and SUVs, as well as to efficient development of derivative vehicle models.”

They didn’t announce an expected timeline for the release of the electric SUVs.

Back in 2017, Toyota announced a major expansion of its electrification plans with its first all-electric car planned for 2021.

However, the Japanese automaker is still mainly focusing on hybrid vehicles.

As for Subaru, the automaker also reportedly plans to launch its first all-electric car in 2021.

Electrek’s Take

We have been seeing a lot of partnerships on electrification from legacy automakers lately.

BMW and Jaguar Land Rover recently did the same. Before them, there were GM and Honda and Ford and Volkswagen.

The Toyota and Subaru partnership makes sense since they are both so much behind in the rollout of all-electric vehicles that they could benefit joining force to catch up.

I am curious what it turns into in the next few years, but it looks like we are going to see Toyota and Subaru unveil EVs on their own fiirst.