Toyota and Subaru Join Hands to Develop Electric SUV

Japanese car makers, Toyota Motor Corp and Subaru Corp announce to co-develop a battery-electric sport-utility vehicle (SUV), Reuters reported.  Both the companies will manufacture the vehicle under one platform; cutting down on costs for producing the lower-emissions car.

According to a statement by the automakers, the platform will be powered by Toyota’s vehicle electrification technologies and Subaru’s all-wheel-drive technologies. The cars will be sold under the different brands of the companies.

The technology partnership highlights the challenges faced by Toyota and other car makers across the world, which are in a race to produce new vehicle technologies such as EVs and autonomous vehicles, which require huge capital.

Toyota and Subaru consider the necessity to follow a business model that goes beyond convention, crossing over industrial boundaries.

Toyota is seeking to collaborate with rival car makers and tech companies to cut down on its capital outlay for producing these new technologies. The company, in April, unveiled its plans to supply its hybrid technology to other key players in the field of automobile.

Toyota has been outstanding in producing technologies for fuel cell and hybrid cars, but it is taking a longer time to launch EVs to the market; as its rivals such as Nissan Motor Co Ltd, Volkswagen AG and Tesla Inc have already launched EVs.

The new partnership between Toyota and Subaru is the second one since 2005. According to reports by Refinitive data, Toyota has a stake of 16.77 percent in Subaru; making them the largest shareholder.