Toyota and Subaru to launch three new joint-venture EVs

Toyota and Subaru will extend their EV alliance beyond the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra, announcing that another three all-electric SUVs will be developed over the next three years.

Subaru made the announcement while posting positive financial results for the previous financial year (ending March 31, 2024), during which it recorded a 75 per cent increase in operating profit from a 15 per cent boost in global sales.

Solterra only accounted for 0.02 per cent of Subaru’s total sales in the 2023 financial year, however the company told investors that by expanding its EV range it should still reach its goal of achieving a 50 per cent EV sales mix by about 2030.

As well as launching three new battery-electric SUVs by 2026, another four EVs are scheduled to be launched before the end of 2028.

By working with Toyota, Subaru can slash the R&D costs involved with developing EVs from scratch.

The second batch of EVs due from 2026 until 2028 will be developed in-house by Subaru, though only if there’s demand for EVs within its global markets.

As well as sharing R&D costs, one of the incoming SUVs will be built by Toyota in one of its US plants. It’s expected to be a three-row SUV that could rival the Kia EV9 when production begins in Kentucky in 2025.

Toyota is expected to produce a sister car, with both models attracting valuable federal EV tax credits in the US when the cars are locally produced.

It’s not known if the three-row EV will be a replacement for the Toyota Kluger sold in Australia, or whether either model will be exported to markets like Australia.

“Through this approach of joint development, joint production and joint supply, we will ensure flexibility in the areas of development and production while mitigating risks with Toyota at a time when it is difficult to clearly predict future trends,” Subaru CEO Atsushi Osaki told Automotive News.

As well as investing in EVs, Subaru also announced that it was pushing ahead with plans to launch its next-generation e-Boxer hybrid powertrain from the fourth quarter of 2024.

Over the past 12 months (ending March 2024), Subaru delivered 976,000 vehicles, out of which 695,000 cars were sold in the US market.

It is aiming to sell 980,000 vehicles over the next 12 months, although it expects its operating profit to fall as the Japanese yen recovers and as the company invests more in R&D.

In its 50th year of selling cars in Australia, Subaru managed to shift 46,114 vehicles in the 2023 calendar year, marking year-on-year growth of 28 per cent.

The Subaru Forester mid-size SUV remains the Japanese brand’s best-selling model Down Under, with 16,381 finding homes in 2023.

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