Source: Gasgoo
Subaru and Toyota are stepping up their partnership, with the two companies planning to work together on three new electric crossovers. Subaru said the partnership with Toyota would help minimize the “significant risk” of producing electric vehicles on its own.
“It would be a huge risk for us to go it alone in this space,” Subaru CEO Atsushi Osaki said at a conference on May 13.
“Right now, it’s hard to predict how electric vehicles will evolve,” Osaki explained. Subaru sold just 14,000 electric vehicles last year, 8,872 of them in the United States. In 2023, Subaru delivered 852,000 vehicles worldwide, with electric vehicles accounting for only 1.6%. So far, the company has released only one all-electric vehicle, the Solterra.
Image source: Subaru
As Subaru’s electric vehicle sales decline in the U.S., the company has unveiled a new strategy to turn things around. Under Osaki, who took over as CEO in April last year, Subaru aims to have electric vehicles account for 50 percent of its total sales by 2030, or about 600,000 units sold. While the target is still low, it represents a significant increase from the previous target of 40 percent sales for hybrid and electric vehicles combined.
By the end of 2026, Subaru will have four all-electric SUVs, including the Solterra. By the end of 2028, Subaru will add four new electric vehicles, bringing the total to eight.
Osaki said Subaru will jointly develop and produce three new electric models with Toyota. A partnership with Toyota, which owns 20 percent of Subaru, would help the smaller Japanese automaker minimize risks in its transition to electric vehicles. “We have had talks with Toyota and agreed that it is better to reduce the risk through joint development,” Osaki explained.
Subaru will build one of three new electric vehicles at its plant in Yajima, Japan, for Toyota and Subaru. Toyota will produce an electric car in the United States that will be supplied equally to both companies.
Toyota is expected to produce Subaru’s first three-row electric SUV in Kentucky in 2025. Subaru plans to start producing electric cars domestically in Japan from 2025, with an annual output of about 200,000 vehicles. Subaru will add a dedicated line for electric vehicles in 2027, when its production will increase by another 200,000 vehicles.
Osaki also said that since the market has changed a lot, we will continue to move forward while carefully studying the situation. Because Toyota will build these vehicles in the United States, Subaru will receive federal electric vehicle tax credits in the United States, which will help stimulate demand.
Subaru also revealed plans to expand its lineup of hybrid vehicles. “While we have already started the transition to electric vehicles, we think it is important to also sell internal combustion engine vehicles,” Osaki said.
