Thanks, Toyota: Subaru to Gain an Electric Crossover, EV Platform

This is what handing 16.8 percent of your company’s ownership to another automaker gets you. Just days after BMW and Jaguar Land Rover announced an electric powertrain agreement, Subaru and Toyota claim a new, shared electric vehicle platform is on the way, as well as a jointly developed crossover.

The effort will mean Subaru — a brand with only a single (Toyota-assisted) plug-in hybrid on the market — will finally have the means to enter the growing EV field.

Not only will the two companies develop a new platform, they’ll also jointly develop a new compact electric utility vehicle, selling it under both brands. Think of it as a greener, more spacious BRZ/86.

The platform itself would serve to underpin a range of CUVs and passenger cars positioned in the C and D segments, with each company bringing something desirable to the table, Toyota claims.

“By combining their respective strengths, such as the all-wheel-drive technologies that Subaru has cultivated over many years and the vehicle electrification technologies that Toyota is employing to bring together other companies that share its aspirations, the two companies intend to take up the challenge of creating attractive products with appeal that only BEVs can offer,” the automaker said in a public release.

Despite its growing volume, Subaru doesn’t have the necessary funds to go it alone on the EV front. Or the hybrid front, for that matter. Last year’s introduction of a plug-in Crosstrek was a product of Toyota’s significant stake in the company and Subaru’s resulting ability to utilize its partner’s technology.

Partnerships, of course, are all the rage today — a solution to spiraling development costs necessitated by emerging technologies and ever more stringent emissions requirements. Both Toyota and Subaru felt that, in order to compete, they needed to create a business model that went “beyond convention.”

In a statement tacked on to Toyota’s release, Subaru said, “Following this agreement with Toyota, Subaru will now shift its existing BEV development resources to this new joint project. Within this new framework, Subaru will continue its efforts to create an attractive BEV SUV for our customers, while improving efficiencies in terms of engineering, development, purchasing, and other areas through the new joint project.”

The announcement came with no timeline attached.

[Image: Subaru]